The West Tisbury select board rescinded a decision to put funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to the ongoing Howes House renovations project, voting instead to use the money to hire a consultant to manage the response to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) entering the town’s groundwater.

The vote comes following a letter from the state Department of Environmental protection last week, notifying the town that they might be on the hook for releasing PFAS, a component of some fire-fighting foams, at the West Tisbury fire station.

“I know it’s overwhelming...but this is something I literally do every day,” said Amy Roth of Wilcox and Barton, the environmental consultant hired to manage the mitigation project for the town. Because of the amount of data already collected by MassDEP, Ms. Roth said, “you kind of got a running start at this.”

Funds in the amount of $304,000 are available to the town, an amount town administrator Jen Rand predicted will not cover the entirety of the project. The vote to redirect the funds was based on a recommendation of the town financial management team.