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
- 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
- The State of Politics: Voters Worried About PFAS in Water - Steven Walters - Apr 22nd, 2024
- EPA Slaps Two PFAS Chemicals With Superfund Law Designation - Danielle Kaeding - Apr 19th, 2024
- DNR Responds To EPA’s Designation Of PFOA And PFOS As Hazardous Substances - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Apr 19th, 2024
- Evers Won’t Rule Out Court Challenge to Force Release of PFAS Funds - Danielle Kaeding - Apr 16th, 2024
- Gov. Evers Vetoes PFAS Bill, Calls Special Meeting of Budget Committee - Baylor Spears - Apr 10th, 2024
- DNR, DHS Respond To EPA’s Announcement Of Maximum Contaminant Levels For PFAS In Drinking Water - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Apr 10th, 2024
- GOP Leaders Urge Gov. Evers to Sign Divisive PFAS Bill - Baylor Spears - Apr 2nd, 2024
- UW-Madison to Open PFAS Center - Robert D'Andrea - Apr 1st, 2024
Read more about PFAS Problem here