Read the full article by Ben Meyer (WXPR)
“The City of Rhinelander’s municipal Well 7, now shut off because of PFAS concerns, is located at the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport.
A UW-Madison engineering professor recommends Rhinelander test its old municipal landfill for PFAS contamination.
Dr. Jim Tinjum, who was hired by the city as an environmental consultant, says the closed landfill could be the source of PFAS contamination in the city’s water.
Over the last year, Rhinelander has shut off two city wells with high levels of PFAS, a contaminant linked to health risks.
At a Common Council meeting this week, Tinjum said it’s possible Rhinelander’s municipal landfill could be the source of that contamination.
‘One of the potential sources could be that landfill. I just say ‘could be.’ We don’t know. Other landfills are similar sources of these compounds,” Tinjum said.
The landfill, located on the city’s south side, operated and was closed decades ago.
‘I’m not making any decisions about the closed Rhinelander landfill other than it is unlined,’ Tinjum said. ‘It was built, constructed, and closed before modern landfill design schemes came into place in Wisconsin’…”