Minnesota State Agencies To Sample Groundwater, Soil And Drinking Water Supplies Possibly Affected By Firefighting Foams

Main Category: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture
Article Date: 10 Feb 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will sample drinking water supplies at sites around the state where it is possible that the use of firefighting foams has resulted in perfluorochemicals (PFCs) seeping into the ground.

A type of foam used to fight fires, Class B firefighting foam, contains PFCs. These Class B foams have been effective in fighting petroleum spills and fires that threaten public health and safety. However, at several fire-training facilities, where repeated use of these foams has occurred, PFCs have been found in the soil and groundwater. Thus, use of Class B firefighting foams may have an impact on drinking-water supplies, especially if the training facility is near a well. Class A foams, used for structure and wildland fires, probably don't have PFCs.

In 2008, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) began surveying fire departments to determine where firefighting foams have been used in training around the state. Along with MDH, which is responsible for ensuring safe drinking water, the MPCA identified a number of sites throughout Minnesota for further testing in 2009. The testing will include analysis of soil, groundwater and sediment samples as well as drinking-water samples, both from private wells and from water delivered by public water supplies, such as municipal systems.

The testing sites will include specific areas in Apple Valley, Bemidji, Brooklyn Center, Burnsville, Cloquet, Goodview, Luverne, Perham, Pierz, Pine River, Randall, Richfield, Rochester and Winona. In addition, two sites, North St. Paul and Cottage Grove, have already been sampled as part of early monitoring done in Washington County. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will be sampling at fire training sites, where it is not likely that municipal wells will be affected, at Alexandria, Bemidji, Brooklyn Center, Burnsville, Claremont, Cottage Grove, Fridley, Goodview, Harmony, Kenyon, Luverne, Myrtle, North Mankato, North St. Paul, Pierz, Preston, Richfield and Rochester. The MPCA will sample at four additional locations where there are no nearby municipal wells at risk: Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, Marathon Refinery in St. Paul Park, Flint Hills Refinery in Rosemount and Duluth International Airport.

MDH has developed health-based exposure limits, the level considered safe for people to drink over a lifetime, for three PFCs. If sampling determines that the levels of PFCs exceed the appropriate limits, recommendations for further actions to protect public health will be made. At this time, there is not enough scientific information to set limits for the other PFCs. "We want to know what is in the water," said John Linc Stine, director of the MDH Environmental Health Division. "Although we consider the likelihood of finding PFCs in the water supply wells to be low, it is prudent to perform this testing."

The next steps in the Class B foam investigation depend on the results of the sampling. If levels of PFCs are found that are of concern, public water systems will review options for reducing the PFCs in their water. Some may be able to reduce overall concentrations by combining water from different sources, including wells that are found to be free of PFCs. Additional information will be made available to citizens on actions they can take, such as home-treatment units, to reduce exposure.

Groundwater and soil contamination will be referred to the MPCA for further actions, which may include additional investigation and remediation activities.

MPCA Commissioner Paul Eger said, "This project is a good example of what our agencies are doing to investigate PFCs in the ambient environment. We want to turn our attention to other questions about PFCs as we continue to make progress on the east metro drinking-water contamination and cleanup of the disposal sites."

The Class B foam investigation is one of more than a dozen research projects the MPCA has initiated since 2007 to look at detection of PFCs beyond those that are related to the four east metro sites where 3M disposed of PFC manufacturing wastes. The studies are funded by 3M under a 2007 agreement with the MPCA. The MPCA recently presented results thus far from the studies at the January meeting of the agency's Citizens Board, in a report titled "PFCs in the Ambient Environment: 2008 Progress Report."

Projects summarized in the report include projects to sample fish tissue in metro-area fishing lakes and the Mississippi River, statewide ground-water monitoring, an investigation specifically looking at PFCs found in fish in Lake Calhoun, air and precipitation monitoring and more. The report is available on the MPCA's Web site here.

As the results of sampling from wells, soil, and groundwater become available in the spring and summer, updated information will be included on the Web sites listed below. All of the sampling should be completed by the fall of 2009.

More information, including technical details, is available on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health Web sites:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/pfcshealth.html
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/cleanup/pfc/index.html

Minnesota Department of Health

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