State efforts to control PFAS are gaining ground

NORTHEAST WIS. – With a new deep well in place, Washington Island School District’s PFAS levels are where any school district would want them to be at — zero, a school administrator said.

A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) grant is expected to provide about $118,000 in reimbursement, enough to cover the total cost of the well, said Sue Cornell, district administrator, business services for the school district.

While the school district’s PFAS reading of 3.7 parts per trillion wasn’t high enough at first to qualify for the state funds, the DNR lowered the qualifying detection level to three parts per trillion, she said.

“It didn’t mean it was unsafe. It was a higher level than the DNR would like to see,” Cornell said.

More school districts and municipalities will be expected to test for PFAS by 2027 as the DNR expands their efforts.

While the DNR is pushing for lower maximum contaminant levels of PFAS, it also is sharing state grant opportunities for municipalities, private landowners and community water utilities and non-community entities like school districts.
So is Senate Bill 128, introduced by state Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto), which is gaining support, he said last week, noting the Town of Campbell endorsed it with a 3-1 vote in favor of it. Wimberger’s office called it “a sweeping PFAS relief bill” and said it would unleash new funding while extending legal protections to pollution victims.

“Communities devastated by PFAS have made it clear: they want this bill signed into law so they can clean up this mess without fear of being punished or forced into bankruptcy for pollution they didn’t cause,“ Wimberger said. “It’s time for the governor to listen to affected communities.”

A public hearing on the bill was scheduled for Tuesday, after the Peshtigo Times’ deadline.

Still, clean water advocates at Save Our Water S.O.H2O in Marinette County say Wimberger’s legislation doesn’t go far enough because it restricts the DNR’s authority. Additionally, it doesn’t include a groundwater standard for PFAS, which was hoped for. Without these, it’s likely to be vetoed, the group said in a press release.

“The only way forward is to work in a bipartisan manner that recognizes compromise is the only answer to protect and help our communities dealing with PFAS contamination. PFAS is poison; we need to get it out of our drinking water,” said Doug Oitzinger, a City of Marinette Common Council member whose ward includes contaminated groundwater stemming from Johnson Controls Inc.’s Tyco unit.

Senate Bill 128 would provide state-funded grants for testing, well construction, treatment systems and other costs associated with PFAS contaminations. Priority would be given to areas where PFAS levels exceed a state or federal standard, according to the legislation.

Funds would also be available to the University of Wisconsin system to study the flow of PFAS into the bay of Green Bay and for grants.

An innocent landowner provision would exempt parties who spread PFAS-contaminated biosolids permitted by law, fire departments and airports that use PFAS firefighting foam in emergencies in compliance with regulations and those who own land contaminated by PFAS from another source.

The French Island contamination in the Town of Campbell is thought to be related to firefighting foam at the airport, said Lee Donahue, supervisor, health education and welfare in the Town of Campbell.

While three other supervisors voted in support of Wimberger’s bill, Donahue said she voted against it primarily because of the innocent landowner provision.

Currently, the town is on a health advisory due to PFAS contamination.

“We are not to use the water for cooking or ingestion. Virtually every household in our area is on bottled water,” she said.

“We are drilling to set up an independent water system for our community, but it requires far more money than a community of 1,650 people have in its local funds.”

The senate bill would excuse the PFAS users as part of an exemption for emergency firefighting, she said. Meanwhile, they’ve held up $125 million in state funds earmarked for PFAS testing and clean up.

“Sen. Wimberger can request that money. The Joint Finance Committee can access the money. And this bill isn’t a required vehicle to access the money,” Donahue said.

“Republicans tried to say this was the only hope of being able to access the $125 million in PFAS funds being held in a trust fund, which I don’t believe is true,” she said.

Donahue did see some bright spots to the renewed interest in addressing PFAS, including $730 million for environmental improvements, some of which the Town of Campbell has received to build a deep well for the community. It also has received approval for several million in federal funds, she said.

Existing grant programs for PFAS contaminations have paid for testing and deep wells in areas throughout the state, including in Door County for Washington Island School District. Absent from the list were any recipients in Marinette and Oconto counties.

While Cornell said the new well wasn’t imperative as the old well provided water within the safe range, she was glad to receive the grant.

Cornell said she doesn’t know how long the PFAS had been in the water because the 2023 test where the 3.7 ppt was detected was the school district’s first test, she said. Cornell said the source of the PFAS was unknown, but she noted the school is near two old service stations.

The school community was supportive of the swift action to address the PFAS.

“They were happy we were addressing it. It wasn’t at a level that was at any danger. It wasn’t like we couldn’t use the well. We had an option to have it replaced and we took the opportunity,” she said. The school district has turned over the old well to the town, she said.