Troy plans to partner with DROP Collaborative on PFAS efforts

By Editor | May 2, 2026 |

By Charles Bolinger
Editor • Kim Cole, a project engineer with DROP Collaborative out of St. Louis, was a guest at April 20 Troy Public Works Committee Meeting.

The city’s public works director, Rob Hancock, invited DROP to partner with them on their per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) work needed to meet an IEPA special permit.

Cole gave a brief presentation of the proposal. The scope of work would involve the following:

From the permit’s effective date + 12 months, there would be an initial PFAS inventory submitted to the IEPA. An updated inventory would then be submitted yearly to the IEPA
From the permit’s effective date + 24 months, a PFAS Reduction Initiative would be implemented; best management practices (BMP) with regard to loading reduction plans in place for all inventoried facilities DROP would provide Troy with a PFAS Minimization Plan template so facilities have a ready-t0-use tool for BMP documentation when this obligation is triggered
From the permit’s effective date + 36 months, the first PFAS Reduction Report gets submitted to the IEPA
Ongoing quarterly are the PFAS monitoring of influent and effluent with results reported on network discharge monitoring reports (NetDMRs)
Ongoing annually are the PFAS monitoring of biosolids, reported on NetDMRs

Cole said they also plan to identify the relevant industries in town that contribute to PFAS, implement a stakeholder survey, create an inventory database and generate annual reports.

Cols said her company offers customized implementation; the company has done work in Highland for the past five years and they also collaborate with Benton Engineering out of Jacksonville, which Troy is also partnering with on other, related efforts, such as the city’s sewer treatment plant upgrade. She estimated that they have more than 25 utility clients in Missouri, all about Troy’s size.

“The only thing we do is non-domestic wastewater,” she said. “So we have our software that we manage data with; we write permits; and do industry inspections; we write city code; we update calculations associated with pollutants of wastewater plants.”

One goal is for them to try to become an extension of the city’s staff, particularly medium and smaller towns that typically lack the in-house staff members. The work they provide is practical and collaborative.

Later, during the city council meeting that evening, City Attorney Fred Keck said with all of the ordinances and resolutions on the evening’s agenda and other items, he had not had an opportunity to review the contract between Troy and DROP Collaborative. He had it on his to-do list along with a resolution for approval to come at the May 4 Troy City Council meeting.