State Officials Push Action on PFAS
50 state sites polluted. Evers budget includes $20 million to fight forever chemicals.
Wisconsin’s top health official is emphasizing the importance of addressing contamination from PFAS chemicals and their effects on residents’ health.
During a webinar Monday with officials from the Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake said what environmental and health officials are learning about perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances presents an “emerging frontier” that is a challenge to human health.
“The group of chemicals that we refer to as PFAS are extremely common,” said Timberlake. “They can have significant effects on human health. They really do represent another emerging frontier of a challenge to human health, not unlike COVID-19.”
PFAS contamination has been found at more than 50 sites statewide, including the Town of Campbell where thousands of residents on French Island were recently offered bottled water by the state due to well water safety concerns.
Most recently, state officials issued a fish consumption advisory for inland trout in Monroe County because of PFAS. The chemicals have also been found in deer liver near Marinette.
Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed budget includes $20 million in one-time DNR funding for the DNR to provide money for local communities affected by PFAS contamination, as well as 11 new positions to carry out the state’s PFAS action plan.
The DNR will soon be taking comments from the public on how much it would cost to implement standards meant to protect drinking water and groundwater, Johnson said.
More than two-thirds of Wisconsin residents get their drinking water from groundwater, and in November, state health officials proposed groundwater standards for 16 PFAS chemicals.
The federal government currently does not regulate PFAS as a hazardous substance.
Listen to the WPR report here.
State Officials Continue Efforts To Track PFAS Contamination was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
More about the PFAS Problem
- State Supreme Court Agrees to Take WMC Toxic Pollution Case - Midwest Environmental Advocates - Sep 11th, 2024
- 2017 Law Resulting in Long List of Outdated DNR Water Standards - Danielle Kaeding - Sep 5th, 2024
- Murphy’s Law: Is Milorganite Making People Sick? - Bruce Murphy - Sep 4th, 2024
- Wisconsin Seeks To Match PFAS Rules To Federal Regulations - Danielle Kaeding - Aug 27th, 2024
- PFAS in Foam Far Worse Than Water in Wisconsin’s Rivers, Lakes - Danielle Kaeding - Jul 10th, 2024
- Lawmakers At Odds Over Releasing Health, PFAS Funds - Erik Gunn - Jun 6th, 2024
- Wisconsin Senate Votes to Override Governor’s Vetoes - Baylor Spears - May 15th, 2024
- Gov. Evers Sues Republican Legislators for Continued Obstruction of Investments Intended to Address Pressing Challenges Facing Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - May 13th, 2024
- Legislators Agree on Opioid Plan, Still Withhold PFAS, Hospital Funds - Erik Gunn - May 8th, 2024
- Gov. Evers Again Calls Republican Lawmakers into Special Meeting to Urge Immediate Release of $140 Million to Fight PFAS Statewide, Respond to Hospital Closures in Western Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - May 6th, 2024
Read more about PFAS Problem here