Read the full article by Jared Strong (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
“The treated drinking water of Burlington and Davenport are again contaminated by cancer-causing chemicals that persist indefinitely in the environment, according to quarterly tests of the water.
Those cities draw most of their water from the Mississippi River. In January, state tests revealed the river was contaminated by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — commonly known as PFAS or ‘forever chemicals.’
But tests of the water in June found no contamination. The Iowa American Water Company, which supplies water for Davenport, has been sampling the river water since 2017, and the results have varied. Sometimes there is PFAS; sometimes there is not. There has been no decipherable pattern, the company has said.
The precise source of contamination is unclear, but there are known contaminated sites upstream operated by 3M, a major manufacturer of the chemicals.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has been sampling water since last year to determine the prevalence of PFAS in community water supplies. It has found them in more than a dozen.” …