Clean Water Action

Clean Water Action Alliance of Minnesota

PFCs contaminate the drinking water of eight communities, the Mississippi River and various lakes in St. Paul and Minneapolis

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Community	Water Affected	Contamination Source	Chemical	Remediation
Brainerd	Mississippi River	Industrial park automotive business	PFOS	Keystone Automotive now filters wastewater pumped into river
Cottage Grove	Municipal well & private wells	Woodbury/Cottage Grove border disposal site	PFBA & PFOA	Bottled water or activated carbon filtration system for some residents
Cottage Grove	Chemolite Plant Groundwater	3M Chemolite Plant	PFOA, PFOS, Other PFCs	System of wells collect groundwater for treatment and filtration
St. Paul Park	City wells	Woodbury/Cottage Grove border disposal site	PFBA	None
Oakdale	City water system	Abresch Dump	PFOA, PFOS, PFBA & other PFCs	3M built treatment facility for two city wells
Lake Elmo	300 private wells 148 exceed MDH guidelines	Washington County Landfill	PFOS & PFOA	Some private wells connected to municipal system Other wells provided filtration system
Newport	City wells	Woodbury/Cottage Grove border disposal site	PFBA	None
Hastings	City wells	Woodbury/Cottage Grove border disposal site	PFBA	None
South St. Paul	City wells	Woodbury/Cottage Grove border disposal site	PFBA	None
Woodbury	Municipal well & private wells	Washington County Landfill & Abresch Dump	PFBA	None
Minneapolis	Chain of Lakes: Calhoun, Harriet, Brownie, Cedar & Lake of the Isles	Unknown	PFOS	None
Minnesota	Mississippi River	3M Chemolite Plant, Cottage Grove & Pig's Eye Dump	PFOS	None

Contamination Levels

Chemical	Water Affected	Community	Amount
PFBA	Private wells	Cottage Grove Woodbury South St. Paul Hastings St Paul Park	up to 5.8 ppb
	City water systems	Same as above	up to 2.3 ppb
		Oakdale (#5 and #9 wells)	up to 1.8 ppb
		Hastings	0.2 - 0.3 ppb
		South St. Paul
PFOA	Municipal wells	Oakdale (#5 and #9 wells)	up to 0.9 ppb
	Private wells	Cottage Grove	above .5 ppb
	Groundwater	Cottage Grove	up to 619 ppb
PFOS	Municipal Wells	Oakdale (#5 and #9 wells)	up to 1.2 ppb
	Chain of Lakes	Minneapolis	181-373 ppb in fish
	Mississippi River	pools 2,3	30-709 ppb in fish
		pool 4	28-152 ppb in fish
		pools 5, 5a	34-99 ppb in fish

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This contamination didn't occur as the result of some accidental spill or explosion. These toxic chemicals were manufactured for decades, put into a wide variety of consumer products and disposed of in landfills and dumps.

Take Action

• Petition for safe water and PFC clean-up
  The drinking water of over 67,000 Minnesota residents is contaminated by toxic chemicals known as PFCs. Three types of PFCs (PFOS, PFOA, and PFBA) pollute the municipal water systems and private wells of eight communities in Minnesota, the Mississippi River and the Chain of Lakes, and six separate states around the country.
  
  These chemicals are persistent, toxic and bio-accumulate in both human and animal tissue. PFOA and PFOS cause a variety of adverse health impacts such as birth defects, a weakened immune system, and hormone disruption. Studies have found PFOA causes liver cancer, testicular cancer and may cause other types of cancer, such as breast cancer. Sign the petition today! Declare that you support safe drinking water for all residents who have PFCs in their water.

Learn More

• Find out more about contamination across Minnesota and about sources of contamination in Washington County specifically.
• Find out which seven other states have widespread contamination.
• Get information on the institutional response to this pollution.
• Learn which fish are under a consumption advisory due to PFC contamination
• Dig into the effects of PFCs on human health.
• Factsheet: Protecting Our Water from PFC Contamination (198 kb, pdf)
• Testimony of Samuel Yamin, MCEA (33 kb, pdf)
• Learn more about toxic chemicals and how to reduce your exposure, visit Healthy Legacy.


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Other sites:

• Minnesota Public Radio Series: Toxic Traces
• Minnesota Department of Health: Hazardous Substances in Minnesota: Perfluorochemicals and Health
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency: Perfluorochemicals
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency: Perfluorochemicals
• Environmental Working Group: PFCs: Global Contaminants: PFC Health Concerns
• C8 Health Project
• DuPont Accountability Coalition
• Ohio Department of Health: Health Assessment Section Fact Sheets
• European Union Reach Policy