Toxic chemicals linked to an array of life-threatening illnesses are contaminating Wisconsin’s drinking water and fish, but the government has been slow to enact regulations to hasten cleanups.
The chemicals — fluorinated compounds referred to by the acronym PFAS (pronounced “Pea-fass”) — spread through air and water. Once ingested, they can take years to leave the body.
Across the country, PFAS compounds have been released from military installations that used heat-resistant firefighting foam, and from businesses that applied impermeable, nonstick coatings to items such as frying pans, microwave popcorn bags, pizza boxes, carpeting and fabric.
Heavy concentrations have been found in groundwater near at least a half-dozen Wisconsin locations, including the state Air National Guard base on Madison’s North Side.
Lower PFAS levels have been detected a mile away in drinking water pumped by a municipal well on East Washington Avenue. Concentrations in Well 15 water have tested below federal health advisory levels.
However, more is being learned about health effects, and government agencies disagree on whether the advisory is adequate. It doesn’t take into account a major federal study President Donald Trump’s administration tried to suppress last summer, and it only addresses two of the more than 3,000 PFAS compounds that have been created. Five of the compounds were detected at Well 15.
The military hasn’t done testing to determine if or when drinking water quality could worsen. Cost of equipping the well with a filter system could easily exceed $3 million, and that doesn’t include ongoing costs of disposing of pollutants captured by the filter.
PFAS from the air base could also pose a threat to people who eat fish from Starkweather Creek and Lake Monona, which receive stormwater runoff from the base.
Infants and children are most susceptible to health hazards linked to PFAS, but the synthetic chemicals are also associated with testicular cancer, and diseases of the liver, kidneys, glands and immune system in adults.
PFAS compounds build up in tissue and don’t usually break down into harmless material. They move through water more quickly than many other toxic substances, so wherever they have been released, lakes, streams and wells are at risk.
“It doesn’t stick to anything so it moves as fast as water,” said…
