WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) issued the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a decision classifying the Periodic Spring in Afton as a groundwater source.
“The Periodic Spring is a safe and reliable water source for the people of Afton, and I am thrilled the EPA now agrees that this is a groundwater source without influence from surface water,” said Lummis. “It would have been catastrophic for the small town of Afton to have to pay millions of dollars to build a water treatment facility if the EPA had decided this was not a groundwater source. This is a huge win for Afton, and I applaud the community leaders who fought hard against the EPA when it decided to try to change the classification of Afton’s Periodic Spring.”
The town of Afton, along with surrounding residents, relies on the Periodic Spring as its main source of water. Afton is a town of 2,200 people with an annual general budget of $4.6 million. Had the EPA made a final “ground water under direct influence” determination, punitive actions and expensive treatment operations upwards of $12 million would have come to the town, while simultaneously putting at risk other spring-fed water systems throughout the state.
In September 2022, Lummis sent a letter alongside Sen. John Barrasso to the EPA urging it to work with Afton and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to conduct additional tests on the quality of their spring water.
###