Wausau Mayor Discusses PFAS Contamination

Monday, March 13th, 2023 -- 8:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg says she continues to get questions about who or what caused the PFAS contamination in all six of the city's drinking water wells, according to Mike Leischner with WSAU.

That's a question that she wishes she had the answer to. "Once those folks are identified, if they're identified, we will want to make sure they pay for part of that remediation and clean up. That's what we do."

She says that's why she's scheduled an informational presentation on the state's rules and regulations regarding responsible parties for Tuesday's regular council meeting. "Talk through what is a responsible party; what does that investigation look like; how long does this take?"

She says she also remains in close contact with Attorney General Josh Kaul to evaluate the city's options when it comes to lawsuits. "Questions about what does this lawsuit look like because they've engaged in statewide lawsuits against the manufacturers of PFAS."

She says she's been contacted by at least a dozen law firms about joining class-action lawsuits against manufacturers and remains in close contact with the state regarding its recent legal action on the issue, all to make sure the city's best interests are protected.

"Whether that is signing onto a class action lawsuit or whether it's working with the state on what they're doing. I don't know. There's a lot of unanswered questions as there will be with emerging contaminates."

Again city leaders will hear an informational presentation on responsible parties as part of Tuesday's regular council meeting at 6:30 PM.

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