Gov. Evers, Wisconsin DNR Urge Release of $10 Million to Address PFAS

A sign in Kayla Furton’s yard Thursday, May 20, 2021, in Peshtigo, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Governor Tony Evers and state environmental regulators are urging the Legislature’s budget-writing committee to release $10 million from the state’s PFAS trust fund.

Wisconsin secured the money in a June settlement reached with Tyco Fire Products tied to alleged violations of the state’s spills law. Four years ago, the state sued Johnson Controls International and its subsidiary Tyco Fire Products for failing to immediately notify regulators of PFAS contamination around its fire training facility in the city of Marinette.

Under the settlement, Tyco was required to invest $10 million into the state’s PFAS trust fund and provide clean water to residents facing PFAS pollution of private wells, including newer deep wells, for the next 20 years. The company has now deposited funds from the settlement into the state’s PFAS trust fund.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources submitted a request Thursday to the Republican co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Finance to release those funds. The money would be spent on safe drinking water in addition to testing and replacement of private wells in an expanded area that Tyco wasn’t required to address under the deal.

“I urge lawmakers to act quickly and approve our request by releasing these funds as quickly as possible so we can continue this fight and ensure Wisconsinites have clean drinking water,” Evers said in a statement.

The committee’s co-chairs, Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have been linked to serious health issues that include fertility issues, thyroid disease, kidney and testicular cancers. The chemicals don’t break down easily in the environment.

Evers and lawmakers created the PFAS trust fund under the last two-year state budget, setting aside $125 million. The account had since grown to $133 million due to interest accrued on those funds. In April, the governor signed a pair of bills passed by the Legislature that set the framework for spending that money.

During DNR hearings over the summer, residents in the Marinette and Peshtigo areas said they primarily wanted funds from the $10 million settlement to go toward safe drinking water. In addition, the DNR wants to provide funds for installing new wells, water treatment systems, long-term maintenance of those systems and blood testing for PFAS among residents.

“The DNR supports the community’s priorities of safe water and wants to move quickly to get financial and technical support to those who need it,” DNR Secretary Karen Hyun said in a statement.

Residents in Marinette and the town of Peshtigo have struggled for years with PFAS contamination of private wells stemming from Tyco’s facility. Sampling shows 236 of 776 wells tested by Tyco or the DNR have PFAS levels beyond state health advisory levels for groundwater.

The state still has other cases pending against chemical companies and manufacturers of firefighting foam, including Tyco.

The state has sued JCI/Tyco and other companies to recover costs from cleaning up PFAS contamination. The case has been moved to U.S. District Court in South Carolina as part of multidistrict litigation involving thousands of cases over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam.

Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin DNR urge release of $10M to address PFAS was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.