CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – On Friday, Wausau announced that it’s suing polluters – the companies that are responsible for PFAS, or forever chemicals, in the city’s drinking water.
The city’s new, and breathtakingly expensive filtration system, is the reason the city has some of the highest water rates in the state.
I’ve editorialized before that the city has wasted money, since Wausau will filter its water to zero PFAS. That’s far beyond the current state standard of 70 parts per trillion. The city had been using a less expensive filtration system that needed maintenance every year or so. It was still expensive, but not as much as the reverse-carbon system that the city opted for.
So, consider for a moment, the fairness of the lawsuit. Let’s assume the XYZ Corporation makes non-stick cookware or microwave popcorn bags, or firefighting foam. Let’s also assume that XYZ Corp. followed the environmental laws of the time. No illegal discharges into rivers or the soil. Remember in the 70s 80s and 90s we knew nothing about PFAS. Now, years later, these companies are labeled as polluters and may be ordered to pay huge judgments.
Consider the impact in Wausau. The paper industry, and 3M, are likely sources of PFAS. Do you think what’s left of the paper industry will expand in a community where they’re being sued? What if 3M, which tried to negotiate a PFAS settlement last year, decides its local manufacturing operation will shut down? Wausau will say they don’t want “dirty” industry in town to begin with. I wonder if they people who work there will agree.
I invite Wausau’s city council to pass a resolution, now, that any money received from the PFAS lawsuit will be used for one purpose and one purpose only: to lower our water rates. Every penny should offset the increases that we’re already paying to the Wausau Water Works. The danger is that someday in the future the city will land a large haul of money. What stops them from spending it – and God news Wausau’s government is full of big spenders. When that pot of money runs out, our taxes will go up to keep the spending train rolling. And we’ll still have sky high water bills too.
Chris Conley
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