7 'Forever Chemicals' Contamination Sites Found In WI, EPA Sends Alert

WISCONSIN — Seven Wisconsin sites are contaminated, and five municipalities are testing their drinking water supplies for polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, according to an environmental activist group.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued drinking water health advisories for human-made "forever chemicals" found in water supplies across the country, including in parts of the Badger State. PFAS in drinking water is more dangerous than previously thought, and local utilities should install filters, or at least warn customers, the agency said.

Here are the Wisconsin locations with PFAS contamination sites, according to a map created by activist organization Environmental Working Group.

• Hayward, where activists suspect the contamination is from firefighting foam
• Peshtigo
• Fort McCoy
• Volk Field, Camp Douglas
• Badger Army Ammunition Plant, Sauk County
• Traux Field, Madison
• General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee

Meanwhile, five other localities — La Crosse Waterworks, Rhinelander Water & Wastewater, West Bend Waterworks, Madison Water Utility and water utility services around Lake Monona — are keeping an eye on their drinking water supplies.

PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because of their durability in high heat and water, which means they remain in the environment for years without breaking down. They’re found in a range of food and consumer products, and have been linked to infertility, thyroid problems and several types of cancer.

No state is untouched by PFAS contamination, according to a map compiled by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization sometimes criticized for exaggerating certain toxicity risks. But a growing body of scholarly and government research backs the assertions of both the activist group and the EPA that even low levels of these chemicals can cause harm over a person’s lifetime.

EPA Advisory "Should Set Off Alarm Bells"

The best thing people can do right now is install one of several commercially available filters, but they need to make sure the filter removes PFAS.

The EPA’s advisory “should set off alarm bells for consumers and regulators,” Environmental Working Group legislative attorney Melanie Benesh told The Washington Post.

“These proposed advisory levels demonstrate that we must move much faster to dramatically reduce exposures to these toxic chemicals,” Benesh said.

A spokesperson for Republican State Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) said party members on the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules won't object to standards the Natural Resources Board proposed for PFAS regulation, the Wisconsin Examiner reported.

“The finalization of these water quality protections is a positive development and a necessary step to protect Wisconsinites from forever chemicals,” Midwest Environmental Advocates executive director Tony Wilkin Gibart told the Associated Press. “While we are glad to see these rules move forward, we are mindful that Wisconsinites whose water comes from private wells also deserve the same protections under our state’s groundwater law.”

In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources shut down water wells in Marshfield and Adams in late May when the agency found harmful levels of PFAS.

Chemical Industry Pushes Back, Questions Federal Advisory

Communities with PFAS contamination may be eligible for funding under a $1 billion grant program included in the Biden administration’s bipartisan infrastructure package, approved by Congress last year.

U.S. manufacturers have phased out PFOA and PFOS, two compounds found in the cluster of forever chemicals widely used in nonstick cookware, moisture-repellent fabrics and flame-retardant equipment. A few uses remain, and they’re ubiquitous in the environment, having accumulated since the 1940s, National Public Radio reported.

Even at levels so low they can’t be detected in drinking water, these compounds pose a health risk, the EPA said in the revised advisory. The agency lowered the allowable limits of these two compounds, immediately drawing fire from the chemical industry.

The American Chemical Council, which represents PFAS producers such as 3M and Dupont, said Wednesday the EPA’s new standards “will have sweeping implications” on public policy, and “cannot be achieved with existing treatment technology and, in fact, are below levels that can be reliably detected using existing EPA methods.”

Further, the industry group questioned the science behind the revised drinking water health advisory, saying it should have been delayed until the agency’s own Science Advisory Board can review the dramatically reduced toxicity levels that are “3,000 to 17,000 times lower” than those set in 2016.

“Getting the science right is of critical importance,” the American Chemical Council said in a statement.

Health advocates say the problem can’t be overstated. Forever chemicals have already prompted officials in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan to issue advisories against eating certain fish caught in Lake Superior.