Read the full article by Chris Hubbuch (Wisconsin State Journal)
“A state advisory board is again calling on Wisconsin leaders to take steps to protect the state’s groundwater supply from contaminants including nitrate and hazardous ‘forever chemicals’ found in a growing number of drinking water supplies.
The Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council’s annual report to the Legislature faults the natural resources policy board for failure to enact new groundwater standards for dozens of compounds recommended by state health experts.
The report, released Wednesday, recommends adopting health-based groundwater standards, implementing practices to protect groundwater from nitrate and other agricultural contaminants, and addressing public health and environmental concerns around PFAS, a group of manmade chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems that have polluted groundwater supplies across the state, including in Madison, Wausau, La Crosse and Marinette.
‘We still have a big nitrate issue. The PFAS issue — that continues,’ said Jim Zellmer, deputy administrator of the DNR’s environmental management and chair of the groundwater council. ‘You hate to keep coming back with that same message, but that is the message we need to keep moving forward with.’
In 2019, based on recommendations from the Department of Health Services, the Department of Natural Resources began crafting groundwater standards for two PFAS and more than a dozen other contaminants.
But earlier this year, conservatives on the Natural Resources Board voted to kill the regulations before they could be sent to lawmakers for approval. The DNR has since restarted the 2½-year process to set standards for bacteria but not for the remainder. Another set of DHS standards is on hold while the agency plans its next steps.” …