Another city well shut down for PFAS

The city’s wells one, two contain PFAS above the EPA’s approved limits

By Steve Van Kooten

The Prairie du Chien Common Council agreed to a professional services agreement (PSA) with Vierbicher Associates, Inc., at their September 3 meeting. The agreement will allow the city to evaluate sites for a fifth municipal well and explore funding options for the project.

The council’s approval came after Matt Muchow, project manager for Vierbicher Associates, and Larry Gates, Prairie’s utilities director, informed the council that the city only has two out of four wells in operation due to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination.

“We shut down well two because the limits were getting high back in April, and this quarter, we also had to sample well one, which is only, in proximity, about 250 feet apart,” said Gates.

PFAS are a group of chemicals found in a myriad of everyday products, including candy wrappers, photographs and aluminum pans, among many others. The chemicals are linked to adverse health effects in animals and plants, such cancer, organ disease and developmental defects.

“We don’t know the main source, but it’s going to cause problems for many municipalities,” Gates told the council.

In April, the Environmental Protection Agency designated six PFAS as hazardous chemicals, and set new regulatory limits for well water on April 10 that reduced the acceptable limit from 70 parts per trillion to four parts per trillion.

At the council’s May 7 meeting, Gates confirmed that well two had to be shut down because its PFAS contents measured 15 parts per trillion. In August, the city had to shut down well one for exceeding the EPA’s regulation limit.

Well one is located underneath the current water department building near Blackhawk Avenue, and well two is in “the park area near Blackhawk Junction Mall,” according to Gates.

“So, do we cap these?” Riebe asked.

“I’m not recommending it, but, thinking in the future, we could abandon or cap well two, for sure,” Gate answered.

According to Gates, Well Two has displayed increasing PFAS numbers for several years, but well one may not be a complete loss just yet. Gates postulated that the encroachment of summer flood waters may have made it difficult for water to drain properly from the aquifer and river water may have brought in more PFAS than normal. He emphasized that this was only a theory and only further testing could prove whether or not the PFAS levels in well one will stay above the EPA limits.

Gates suggested the city could keep well one operational for use in case water was needed for fire protection but not for general usage.

Mayor Dave Hemmer asked, “Do you think there’s anything out there in the future that maybe can treat these wells for PFAS or at least neutralize them?”

“It’s a fairly new forever chemical,” answered Gates. “There’s different municipalities that are trying ways to treat it.”

Possible treatment options for PFAS contaminants include reverse osmosis, a multi-stage water treatment process that separates water from contaminants with a membrane filter. At the council’s June 4 meeting, Gates said many of the treatment options are still new and have not proven effective in larger well systems. He also contended that many of the filtration options created new problems, such as disposal of the removed contaminants and the cost to expand well houses for new equipment.

“The price of that compared to finding a place that has no contaminants outweighs different scenarios,” said Gates.

The PSA, provided by Vierbicher, estimated the cost of building a new municipal well between $1.5 and $2 million.

PSA details

The agreement between the city and Vierbicher’s has two components: a funding investigation and a well site investigation report.

“This kind of establishes the path forward to nail down the location of the well and [conduct] a funding investigation,” said Muchow.

The funding investigation will cost $5,800 and will explore the city’s options to help finance a new well project. According to Muchow, there are several programs available, including the Safe Drinking Water Program, that offer zero- to low-interest loans for PFAS-related projects.

The well site investigation will cost $11,500 and will evaluate sites within the city for the prospective fifth well.

“I think it will take some time to get results back from different locations throughout the city,” said Gates.

The PSA also assigns Vierbicher to mediate between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the city for the project.

The PSA’s activities are projected to be completed by October of this year. At that time, a final funding plan and schedule should be completed along with the investigation report.

In attendance were alderpersons Nick Crary, Andy Ringgold, Vicki Waller, Kayla Ingham, Mark Bowar, Bob Granzow, Nate Bremmer and Jaaren Riebe. Mayor David Hemmer, City Administrator Chad Abram, Police Chief Kyle Teynor and Street Superintendent Nick Gilberts were also present.