Tom Kilian. Image courtesy: City of Wausau
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau District 3 Alder Tom Kilian is calling on the city to provide either bottled or filtered water for residents after it was revealed that all six of its wells show elevated levels of PFAS.
“Yesterday I emailed [Mayor Katie Rosenberg and Public Works Director Eric Lindman] and required immediate alternative water sources or filtering for District 3 residents and furthermore for all Wausauonians,” said Kilian.
His request came the same day that Rosenberg and Lindman held a news conference with state health and environmental leaders to announce that the city’s water wells have reported between 23-48 parts per trillion of the chemicals. Those numbers are above the proposed state standard of 20 PPT, but below the US EPA standard of 70 PPT.
Kilian is also questioning the timing of Wednesday’s announcement, given that city leaders knew about PFAS in the water supply dating back to 2019. “If the proposed standards from the DNR and DHS were also known later in 2019, which apparently it was from certain departments based on public record. Why [then], at that point, was the public not immediately notified?
“That is a central question. Perhaps, the most important question right now,” added Kilian.
On Wednesday both Lindman and Rosenberg emphasized that the city’s water remains safe to drink and is not in violation of any current regulations. Though Lindman said the new information will likely be used to tweak the filtration processes that will be used in the city’s new drinking water treatment plant, which is set to come online later this year.
RELATED: PFAS Discovered in Wausau Water Wells
City leaders acknowledge those 2019 reports but say a lack of enforceable standards from the DNR was the reason they didn’t take any action at the time. The DNR did request further testing in Wausau’s wells back in December, those results triggered Wednesday’s announcement.
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