U.S. is recommending low limits for 'forever chemicals.' Many Wisconsin communities have tested over it.
MADISON — When the Environmental Protection Agency last week released new guidelines for how much PFAS should be allowed in public drinking water systems, it left officials in Mosinee concerned.
The city of 4,500 in northern Wisconsin knows it has elevated levels of at least one PFAS chemical — PFOS —in its public water system. But while that contamination amount is now above federal recommendations, it remains well below state standards.
“The city is concerned whether there is currently technology available to reduce PFAS to the EPA’s proposed standards and the significant cost,” said Mosinee City Administrator Jeff Gates in an email.
Mosinee has PFOS in one of its wells as high as 29 parts per trillion, seven times higher than the new federal guideline, which is 4 parts per trillion. The state’s regulatory limit, set in 2021, is 70 parts per trillion for two of the most common PFAS chemicals — PFOA and PFOS — in combination or separately.
The EPA's new guidance is preliminary only. The federal agency issued the recommendations based on its research on what it believes is safe for human consumption. But the recommendations have no legal authority in Wisconsin or elsewhere until Congress approves them.
The difference between federal guidelines and state standards is now raising questions for Mosinee and communities across Wisconsin, who are largely testing for the compounds for the first time this year.
PFAS chemicals, a group of more than 10,000 compounds, are widely used in consumer products, including rain jackets, nonstick pots and pans, and waterproof mascara. They get into the environment through manufacturing, industrial waste, landfills and the use of firefighting foam.
A Journal Sentinel analysis of municipal testing data compiled by the state Department of Natural Resources found that 13 communities have at least one PFAS chemical above the EPA’s new guidelines. The municipalities are Marshfield, Weston, Saukville, Mosinee, Adams, East Troy, Rib Mountain, Wausau, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Prescott, Rhinelander and Hartford.
Last year, a Journal Sentinel investigation also found a number of smaller water supplies are being impacted by the chemicals as well, including some cities, such as Palmyra, which had PFOA above the new recommendations.
Mosinee is responding by adjusting how it pumps water from its wells, blending clean water from other wells to lower the PFAS in the water overall. The question now is how to reduce or eliminate the “forever chemicals” and at what cost.
Every municipality with PFAS chemicals in its water is in a tough position, said RT Krueger, CEO of Northern Lake Service, a Crandon-based lab that tests water for PFAS nationwide.
“One day you might be comfortable with low levels (of PFAS), and be in compliance, but the goal posts keep getting moved over and over again,” he said. “They’re really stuck in a tough position of public health versus public scrutiny versus available funds.”
Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that has implemented a statewide drinking water PFAS testing program, which is expected to wrap up this spring. What the results of the tests already completed show is that many communities will now have to figure out how to treat their water to bring it down to levels that are lower than or meet the new federal guidelines.
But the state isn't rushing into enforcing the lower limits from the EPA. There is still much work to be done before those standards are enforceable.
"That process needs to play itself out. There's going to be public input. They're going to look at the economic impact of what that means for municipalities and others," said DNR Secretary-designee Adam Payne. "And in the meantime, we need to be leaders and be responsive to communities and individual well owners."
Right now, the focus for the state is getting testing done in both public systems and private wells so that residents have an idea of where they stand, he said.
"If I'm running a wastewater treatment facility, or I'm providing water, or I'm a well owner, I would want to test, and I would want to know exactly where I'm at," Payne said. "And I would want to be talking with our community about what we can do to make sure (the water) is clean and safe going forward."
Research shows a link between the chemicals and elevated health risks, including certain types of cancers, thyroid problems, hypertension and, in pregnant women, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.
Public health and chemical researchers are split on the risks of ingesting the compounds at different levels, though the EPA's new recommended standards for drinking water at 4 parts per trillion reinforce what scientists have been saying for years: Almost no levels of PFAS are safe for human consumption.
‘Utilities rarely see a change of this magnitude’
Marshfield’s water system has PFAS chemicals now above the EPA guidelines. It has stopped using the contaminated well and in the meantime, is installing a treatment filter for it so it can be used again safely, said city water utility manager Nick Kumm.
In Rib Mountain, where tests have shown concentrations of PFOS as high as 8 parts per trillion, Michael Heyroth, who oversees the town's water system, said the EPA’s new recommendations are a dramatic change for systems to contend with.
“Utilities rarely see a change of this magnitude,” he said in an email. “If the new levels are required, it will require vast amounts of money in funding to remove PFAS from the drinking water. This is far more than any one utility can generate on their own, especially a small utility like ours.”
Wausau has been working on a solution for PFAS contamination ranging from 24 to 40 parts per trillion for various compounds in all six of its city wells since last year. It is temporarily using a resin-based filtration system but will transition to a long-term, granular activated carbon filter at its treatment facility by the end of 2024.
The city’s goal is to eliminate all PFAS compounds from its water, Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg said.
“It's expensive, but looking at science, but still looking at how it impacts human health … Wausau is moving in the right direction,” she said.
‘It’s possible for us to remove these chemicals’
As communities begin to think about treatment, the EPA is working to establish which technologies will work the best to remove PFAS from drinking water.
Jonathan Pressman, a researcher with the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Division, is working to find the best forms of treatment at the agency’s water research and development lab in Cincinnati.
So far, there are three options: membrane filtration, like reverse osmosis; granulated activated carbon or ion exchange resin.
Reverse osmosis is likely too expensive for most municipalities, but the other two show promising results and have also been used for years to filter water for other contaminants.
Municipalities will need to decide which medium works best for them, based on the levels of PFAS and other chemicals or pollutants in their water.
“What goes into the considerations of treatment, there's a whole lot, and if we know one thing, we know that waters are unique, what's in the water is unique, and you need to treat almost every water in every system as something unique,” Pressman said.
Then, municipalities will be faced with figuring out how long they can use the resin or carbon before it needs to be replaced, so PFAS aren’t “breaking through” the filter.
“Overall, I think it’s possible for us to remove these chemicals. It’s doable,” Pressman said. “It will come at a cost, and the cost generally won’t be insignificant but hopefully manageable for most systems.”
Laura Schulte is a government and natural resources reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.
Katelyn Ferral is an investigative reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Email her at kferral@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @katelynferral.
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