The Eau Claire Water Treatment Plant hosted Governor Tony Evers on Monday, sharing their history and plans for addressing PFAS contamination.

Addressing PFAS contamination has been a major point of contention in Wisconsin, as the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee has refused to release $125 million in funding to help remove the “forever chemicals” from the drinking water in the state.

Much of the delay has come from Governor Evers’ insistence that the companies who have polluted the waters with the chemicals should be held accountable for that pollution, and help in addressing the fallout. In order to force the funds to be released, as well as the $15 million in funding for emergency departments in the Chippewa Valley, Governor Evers filed a lawsuit against the Joint Finance Committee.

Following a tour of the facility, City of Eau Claire employees at the plant shared some of the history the city has dealing with PFAS. According to their presentation, the city began proactively testing samples of drinking water in June of 2020, detecting the compounds but finding they were still below the level that would require them to address the contamination as soon as possible. Still, the city continued to test the water supply and work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to track the contamination.

Eau Claire’s water supply first went over the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ hazard index in July of 2021, prompting the city to sample all of its wells. Within a week, four of the 16 wells near the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport had been turned off. Three more wells were turned off in August, as the PFAS contamination from the previous four had been drawn into other areas. Still, the city was able to meet water demand without imposing any restrictions with almost half of their wells shut off.

Now, the water treatment plant is preparing to open a PFAS removal facility that will cost $17 million to build, with the added costs of testing the water, removing the PFAS from the water supply, and disposing of the chemicals. The City of Eau Claire is seeking state and federal funding sources to minimize the impact of the added financial burden on area residents with increased rates.