Environment Groups Urge DNR to Prioritize Benefits of Proposed Groundwater Standards

Wednesday, October 25th, 2023 -- 9:00 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) Environmental groups and residents living with PFAS contamination urged the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to prioritize the benefits of its proposed groundwater standards for the chemicals over any economic effects on industry.

Accoring to Danielle Kaeding with the Wisconsin Public Radio, the comments were made Friday during a DNR hearing on the agency’s draft economic impact analysis regarding proposed limits for the chemicals in groundwater.

The agency is crafting regulations for four PFAS chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, PFBS, and HFPO-DA or GenX. The DNR is proposing limits based on recommendations from state health officials, which would be more stringent than Wisconsin’s drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS. For PFOA and PFOS, the agency is recommending standards of 20 parts per trillion.

The agency is recommending standards of 300 parts per trillion for GenX and 450 parts per billion for PFBS. In 2019, the DNR first launched the process of setting groundwater standards for two of the most widely studied PFAS chemicals as part of a broader rule package.

The Natural Resources Board failed to approve limits on the chemicals last year, prompting the agency to begin anew.

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