City of Marshfield Discusses PFAS Chemicals

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 -- 1:00 PM

The City of Marshfield released information regarding municipal wells and PFAS chemicals in regards to other municipalities’ wells testing positive for the chemicals.

Their drinking water is closely regulated by both the EPA and DNR and it meets strict federal and state drinking water standards.  Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) is an emerging contaminant and the Environmental Protection agency and the Department of Natural Resources are currently developing regulations for PFAS.

PFAS is a group of thousands of compounds invented in the 1930's and is used in everything from food packaging and cookware to upholstery, clothing and firefighting foam. The chemicals do not break down in the environment and are commonly found in dust, air, soil and water.

Currently, there is a considerable amount of research being completed to determine how exposure to different PFAS may lead to a variety of health effects. In 2016, Marshfield Utilities completed PFAS testing as part of the EPA UCMR 3 (Third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule).

All three entry points of MU’s system were tested and the test results were no detects of PFAS at that time.  The research and technology used to test for PFAS continues to advance.

This allows for the presence of more compounds to be tested for at even lower concentration levels (part per trillion, ppt). Last week, Gov. Tony Evers announced a Voluntary Drinking Water PFAS Sampling Project for Municipal Systems.

Marshfield Utilities has already reached out to the DNR to determine how we can participate in this voluntary sampling program and ensure we are providing safe and healthy water to our community.

Once this voluntary sampling has been completed, the results will be shared with the community. More information can be found at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/PFAS/PWSampling on the sampling program.

The following resources provide additional information on PFAS:

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): https://www.epa.gov/pfas;
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/PFAS_FactSheet.html;
• and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR): https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/PFAS.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Marshfield Utilities at 715-898-2188 or [email protected].

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.