Eric Murphy
Well 15.
Well 15 on Madison's east side was shut down in 2019 due to the detection of high levels of PFAS.
Madison’s share of two class action PFAS settlements worth $12.2 billion is expected to fund most of the construction of the state’s first-ever municipal PFAS treatment system, planned for Well 15 on Madison’s east side.
Marcus Pearson, spokesperson for the Madison Water Utility, says the utility expects to receive $3.5 million from the settlements agreed to by manufacturers of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — known as forever chemicals because they are slow to break down in nature and the human body — and water providers. About $3 million will come from 3M and another roughly $500,000 from DuPont. 3M will pay out about $10.3 billion to water providers across the country while DuPont will pay $1.9 billion.
“This will go directly to helping us clean up PFAS,” says Pearson, who notes the money will cover more than half of the $5.9 million price tag of the treatment system at Well 15. The remaining funding — nearly $3 million — will come from the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, a state initiative that finances local drinking water infrastructure (this funding will not be treated as a loan).
State leaders initially criticized the settlement, with Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul arguing that it would prevent future legal claims by Wisconsin. Wisconsin intervened to block the settlement, along with dozens of other states, but after negotiations and changes to the settlement terms, the states dropped their opposition in August. Five attorneys general, including Kaul, still issued an amicus letter criticizing the terms of the settlement with DuPont as insufficient.
The city’s water utility could have opted out of the settlement and pursued claims against the companies on its own. But Pearson says that the settlement will benefit Madison, and pursuing separate legal actions would prove costly. Some Wisconsin cities are going their own way, though. The La Crosse City Council approved funds on Nov. 27 to pay for outside counsel to pursue a separate claim.
Pearson says Well 15 delivered one billion gallons of water to Madison’s east side each year before it was shut down in 2019 due to the detection of high levels of PFAS. These chemicals are commonly found in nonstick surfaces, packaging, clothing and firefighting foam. 3M has said they will stop manufacturing PFAS by 2025.
The combination of expected settlement money and loan forgiveness from the state “means no cost to ratepayers” for the new treatment system at Well 15, says Pearson. The funding, he adds, will “help Madison Water Utility stay consistent with our mission of supplying high quality water for consumption and fire protection at a reasonable cost, while conserving and protecting our groundwater resource for the present and future generation.”
An engineering consultant is nearly finished designing the Well 15 treatment system. The utility expects to be able to start construction in spring, with completion expected in summer 2025.
