In new sign of troubles, manufacturer seeks to rid chemicals in ditches that flow into Green Bay

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Wisconsin company that makes fire suppression foam says it has found more evidence of toxic compounds polluting water in ditches near one of its operations in Marinette — the latest sign chemicals could be flowing into Lake Michigan.

Tyco Fire Product operates a fire technology center in Marinette where chemicals used in firefighting foam have been found in groundwater.

Tyco Fire Products — a unit of Glendale-based Johnson Controls — said it is “moving immediately” on the matter and conferring with the Department of Natural Resources on two fronts: How to remove the compounds from the ditches; and better understand how the chemicals reached the ditches.

The chemicals, which are coming under growing scrutiny across the country, pose potential health risks, including liver damage and heightened risk of some cancers.

This week, in its latest online update on contaminants migrating from its operations in northeastern Wisconsin, Tyco said two ditches leading to Green Bay contained chemical compounds known as perfluorinated chemicals, with a state official reporting preliminary tests showing high concentrations of the pollutants.

One of those ditches flows into Green Bay at Runnoe Park near the University of Wisconsin-Marinette; the other flows to Little River, south of the city.

Some water samples were taken near Lake Michigan, according to Steve Ales, the DNR’s field operations manager for remediation and redevelopment.

Marinette gets its drinking water from Green Bay. Trace amounts of the chemicals have also been detected in Marinette's municipal drinking water, according to city and DNR records. Officials have said levels detected are not considered a public health threat, but a bigger concern has been the discovery of the chemicals in private wells.

Johnson Controls spokesman Fraser Engerman said the company will be sampling four additional ditches in the area.

The chemicals in question are perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS. They have traditionally been used in products ranging from Teflon to firefighting foam manufactured by Tyco and other companies.

Tyco says it has provided initial laboratory results to the DNR.

"I am not surprised it's been found in the ditches," Ales said, noting it was already known the compounds were in the groundwater and flowing away from Tyco and toward Green Bay.

"What's a little surprising is some of the concentrations," he said.

Tyco has told the DNR some samples contain concentrations of 2,000 to 3,000 parts per trillion.

The company earlier reported that four samples of standing water in ditches at the company’s fire training facility on the outskirts of town had concentrations of PFOA or PFOS ranging between 417 and 4,620 parts per trillion.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established a health advisory level for the chemicals in drinking water at 70 parts per trillion.

Tyco said it has no evidence water from the ditches is used as a source of drinking water.

Ales said the company will submit plans to remove the compounds from the water. One option is to install a water treatment system in the ditches.

This week’s development is the latest in a series of events involving the company and local water conditions.

Earlier this month, the company said it was making offers to property owners with tainted wells that it would install water treatment systems at Tyco’s expense, regardless of the amount of the chemicals detected in groundwater.

That was a change from December when Tyco said it would provide bottled water to properties where the compounds were found in drinking water, but were under the EPA health advisory level.

The offer to buy entire treatment systems came shortly after the release of a federal draft report showing the chemicals have greater health risks at lower concentrations than previously publicly known.

Also, in June, the company said it had discovered the compounds at a second location — in well samples at its manufacturing plant along the Menominee River, a tributary of Green Bay.

Tyco initially was investigating pollution near the fire training facility. The site is also used for research and development, manufacturing and storage. The company says the first foam testing may have started there as early as 1962.

The federal draft report said that epidemiology studies suggest that PFOA and PFOS are associated with increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension, liver damage, thyroid disease and asthma, decreased fertility and a decline in response to vaccines.

The report also said research suggests the chemicals can increase the risk of some cancers.

Nationally, environmental and public health groups have called for stronger standards than the EPA’s advisory.