David Michael Miller
Well 9 is located on Spaanem Avenue.
Since Isthmus printed a skull drinking a glass of water on its cover last week, Madison Water Utility has been getting calls from people in the well 9 area. It’s no wonder. Well 9, located on Spaanem Avenue, appears on a map in the story as a bright orange dot because tests show a total PFAS concentration at the well of 52 parts per trillion.
The story includes a comment from me explaining why the utility doesn’t stress total PFAS concentration when communicating about detections: “PFAS compounds aren’t really an apples-to-apples comparison. Some types are far more concerning than others.” But the rest of my emailed response is cut: “For example, well 9 on Spaanem Avenue has 36-42 ppt of a compound called PFBA. Minnesota has a health-based guideline for that compound in drinking water of 4,000 ppt.”
To be honest, I had made a mistake. The Minnesota guideline for PFBA is 7,000 ppt. I emailed a short time later with the correction, but it didn’t really matter. The information never made it into the story.
What does matter is that the concentration at well 9 is a fraction of the only guideline for that compound in the United States.
I know not every detail can make it into a story. This is an incredibly complex topic. But I do expect journalists to include basic details that offer context for people in Madison. I appreciate Isthmus giving me the opportunity to write about this now — so I can set the record straight and provide that context. Not just about well 9, but about the city’s approach to this issue from the beginning.
In October 2016, MWU Water Quality Manager Joe Grande met with the Water Quality Technical Advisory Committee, a group of professional experts in areas like water chemistry, lab testing, environmental toxicology, and contaminant fate and transport. On the agenda was PFAS, a class of thousands of chemicals found in countless consumer products, from pots and pans to food wrappers and firefighting foams. Five months prior to the meeting, the EPA had drastically lowered its drinking water health advisory level for two types of PFAS compounds — PFOA and PFOS — to 70 parts per trillion (ppt) combined.
The utility had already tested all wells for PFAS twice and found nothing, but the EPA’s required testing method only looked down to concentrations of 20 ppt for PFOA and 40 for PFOS. That meant we could be close to that combined advisory level of 70 and never know. The committee suggested the utility seek out labs that could carry out advanced testing to detect ultra-trace levels. In 2017, the utility tested again, this time down to levels far below EPA requirements.
It was the first time a water utility in Wisconsin had used advanced testing to look for PFAS. The city wanted to be absolutely sure it was doing everything possible to find PFAS in our water.
Initial testing found low levels of the chemicals at well 16 on the west side and well 15 near the airport. This was the first public discovery of PFAS in Madison’s environment.
I’ve given this information to several reporters covering this issue, but it’s never made it to print until now. I understand. It doesn’t fit the narrative of a city waiting for others to act, of a city that’s not paying attention to the science on PFAS.
Grande has spent the past year advising utilities across Wisconsin about PFAS testing. He’s also worked with the State Lab of Hygiene to help it gain accreditation for advanced PFAS testing using the utility’s samples to develop its competency.
In the summer of 2018, Madison Water Utility launched a groundwater transport study to measure how long it takes groundwater under Truax Field to reach well 15, less than a mile away. Results confirmed that Truax is the likely source of PFAS compounds detected at the well, and it had taken the chemicals three to five decades to make the journey. The PFAS problem started long ago, and we’re only catching it now because the city used cutting-edge testing to look harder.
Madison Water Utility has since discovered low-level detections of multiple PFAS compounds at 14 different wells. All show concentrations well below the EPA health advisory level and Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ recommended groundwater standard. But a consistent story is emerging — when you look very hard for these pervasive chemicals, you have a good chance of finding them.
Last October, Grande presented a comprehensive report — all results from more than 50 samples collected at 23 wells — to the public at a Water Utility Board meeting. The report is available on our website and I personally emailed it last fall to everyone who follows the utility’s PFAS Testing and Results email list. Anyone can sign up for emails at madisonwater.org/PFAS, and everyone should.
It’s easy to accuse city officials of not being transparent. A city that has carried out more drinking water testing for PFAS than any municipality in the state, results of which have helped the Department of Natural Resources develop its list of PFAS compounds for lab certification. A city that has posted every single water test result online, and publicly urged the DNR and DHS to expand the number of PFAS compounds being studied. A city that was among the first to switch away from PFAS-containing firefighting foams.
It’s easy, but it’s not honest.
Environmental advocates like Maria Powell have been doing important work to draw attention to PFAS pollution in Madison. Others have been highlighting pollution in and around Marinette, Wis., where industrial wastewater leaving the Tyco fire products plant contaminated streams, sediment, soil and groundwater. Some nearby private drinking water wells have shown combined PFOA and PFOS concentrations of 73 to 1,900 ppt, far higher than concentrations in any Madison well.
But this is not just a Madison issue, or a Marinette issue. PFAS are still being widely manufactured and used. They never break down and will ultimately end up in our environment — our air, our soil, our water. We need more advocacy, we need more regulation. Make no mistake, addressing PFAS will bring a significant cost for communities across the state, which always seem to bear the burden of environmental pollution.
No water (or air, or soil) is completely free of contaminants. Madison Water Utility’s next planned water quality project isn’t about PFAS. It’s a $7.6 million facility that will reduce iron, manganese and radium at a well just off UW Madison’s campus.
The city isn’t afraid of debate, advocacy, transparency. Madison is committed to those things, and it’s committed to providing the safest water possible for our community.
Amy Barrilleaux is the public information officer for the Madison Water Utility. This is a slightly expanded version of her guest column that appeared in print.
