DNR asks that more chemicals be evaluated for safe levels in groundwater
The Department of Natural Resources is asking a state health agency to study the potential impacts of a group of unregulated contaminants as a prelude to setting safe limits in groundwater
The agency on Wednesday asked the Department of Health Services to review 40 chemical compounds to recommend levels that would protect human health.
The request is the latest effort by the state to evaluate, and eventually regulate, a spate of compounds that are coming under growing attention in Wisconsin and nationally.
In March 2018, the agency asked Health Services to evaluate 27 other chemical compounds.
In the latest action, among the 40 compounds, six are pesticides and herbicides that have been found by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in private wells, according to Steve Elmore, bureau director of drinking and groundwater for the DNR.
Other chemicals have been found in wells and soil, including in Marinette in northeastern Wisconsin, Madison municipal wells and groundwater at the Air National Guard 128th Air Refueling Wing in Milwaukee.
Many of the chemicals are known as perfluorinated chemicals, sometimes dubbed “forever chemicals,” because they do not break down easily in the environment.
The compounds have been widely used for years and have properties that keep food from sticking to pans; allow carpets to resist stains; and in firefighting, especially at military installations, where they are used to spread fire-retardant foams.
Epidemiology studies cited in a federal report released last year suggest that the chemicals can lead to increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension, liver damage, thyroid disease, asthma, decreased fertility, some cancers and a decline in response to vaccines.
Currently, many can be regulated as hazardous pollutants, which can require known polluters to clean up contaminants.
Also on Wednesday, the DNR said it was hiring a consulting firm to help pinpoint the source of contamination of perfluorinated chemicals affecting two municipal wells in Madison.
The agency plans to spend $30,000 assessing former industrial and commercial activities near the wells on the city’s west and northeast sides.
"Everyone deserves clean and safe drinking water, regardless of whether it comes from a municipal source or a private drinking well," DNR Secretary Preston Cole said in a statement.
Wisconsin officials are in the early phases of assessing contamination levels in the state.
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Earlier this week, the DNR said it would be monitoring several rivers and streams in the state this summer to assess contamination levels by taking fish and water samples.
They are also monitoring the situation in Madison and overseeing the cleanup by Tyco Fire products of perfluorinated chemicals in Marinette.
Tyco, a unit of Johnson Controls International, is providing drinking water to affected residents and is offering to pay to connect residents with polluted wells to Marinette’s municipal water system. No decision has been made by local authorities.
But as the state ramps up its efforts, there has been criticism about the pace of its actions.
Health Services, for example, is still evaluating the first 27 compounds. The agency said that the recommendations will be sent to the DNR in the next 90 days.
Then, the job of the DNR is to write regulations setting limits on the allowable amount of pollutants in groundwater. Officials say that process usually takes about 30 months.
At a legislative hearing last week, Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, complained about the pace of activity by Health Services. Affected residents have “waited long enough for these standards to be developed,” he said.
He is a co-sponsor of a bill that would regulate the two most prominent of the pollutants — perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS.
Business groups, including Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, said that while safe drinking water is imperative, Wisconsin should regulate the chemicals in conjunction with the federal government, which is in the process of setting standards.
Other states have already begun to set limits for some of the chemicals.
The DNR’s Elmore said the agency is considering the use of emergency rules, but noted that by law emergency rules last for only 150 days.
Health Services said that it is reviewing scientific data on each compound and looking to see if the chemicals cause cancer, affect development, damage organs or have other impacts.
In a statement, spokeswoman Jennifer Miller said:
“With 27 substances on the list, this process takes time and, so far, our scientists have reviewed information from over 5,000 scientific studies in order to have the most complete information to make the recommendations.”