The Wausau City Council heard a presentation from the Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday regarding who could be held responsible for the PFAS contamination in the city's drinking water supply.
Field Operations Director Trevor Noble says that's not an easy question to answer.
“There may not just be one source or one responsible party in some of our cases, and that can be very difficult to sort through on multiple levels”, said Noble.
He says once the department determines a responsible party they have several options to clean up the mess.
“Could be digging out the contamination. Could be injecting something in the ground to help the biological activity break those compounds down faster. It can be multiple things that can be put into place, a pump and treat system”
Noble gave his presentation alongside his colleague at the DNR Steve Elmore, they represent two of several teams that are working on the issue of PFAS.
Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg has said that so far no one has been able to identify a responsible party or parties for the contamination.
All six of Wausau’s drinking water wells have elevated levels of the so-called forever chemicals, which are linked to multiple health issues.
Several other municipalities across the region and state are also battling the chemicals from Rhinleander to Eau Claire and the La Crosse area.
