MN Pollution Control Agency recommends pumping groundwater to treat for PFAS – Twin Cities

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is recommending that PFAS pollution in drinking water be handled by drilling wells around the east metro to pump up and treat the groundwater before it spreads further.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, are also referred to as “forever chemicals” due to how long they remain in the environment. The chemicals are not safe for living organisms to consume and are difficult to remove from water.

The recommendation of the drill and pump method is “one of several from a seven-year feasibility study of options for reducing PFAS from groundwater and surface water,” according to a May 19 MPCA release.

“Minnesota’s East Metro communities and state agencies have been working hard to protect drinking water supplies from PFAS for 20 years,” the agency’s assistant commissioner Kirk Koudelka said. “This feasibility study points the way forward with options for a more robust environmental cleanup to remove PFAS from surface water and groundwater while preventing the East Metro PFAS plume from spreading further.”

The recommended approach is to create a system of wells that pump out PFAS-contaminated groundwater, treat it and return it back to the aquifer or distribute it to cities for drinking water.

Other recommendations include treating surface water to reduce PFAS concentrations, creating barriers to prevent people and wildlife from coming into contact with contamination and monitoring groundwater and surface water “to ensure cleanup is working as planned” long term, according to the release.

The study, funded by the $850 million settlement that Minnesota reached with 3M Co. in 2018, focused on the area served by the Valley Branch Watershed District’s Project 1007 rainwater conveyance system in the Lake Elmo area, according to the release. 3M began manufacturing products containing PFAS in the 1980s. The state took an interest in the mid-2000s, and in 2007, the pollution control agency and 3M reached an agreement to address PFAS contamination at four disposal areas.

The feasibility study compared six PFAS destruction technologies, which have all yielded promising results, according to the release, though more research is needed for “PFAS destruction technology that is viable at scale,” according to the release.

“Investing in these options would be more cost-effective in the long term than current measures that treat drinking water alone,” the MPCA stated.