In fall 2021, a colleague noticed this letter on the DNR’s BRRTS website, from the DNR to residents of a home on Madison’s east side. The letter says:
“The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is aware that your well was tested on June 10, 2021, by the National Guard Bureau for the reason of determining the presence or absence of per and poly fluoro-alkyl substances (PFAS) as part of a site investigation related to the Wisconsin Air National Guard 115th Fighter Wing site located at 3110 Mitchell Street in Madison (BRRTS No. 02-13-581254).”
“If you have not already received a copy of these results from the National Guard Bureau by U.S. mail or FedEx, you should receive a copy soon. The results indicate that your well is impacted by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The DNR is issuing this advisory under Wis. Admin. Code § NR 738.03(1) and recommending that the well or water supply not be used for human consumption (i.e., drinking, cooking) at this time due to potential human health risks.”
National Guard Bureau testing found total levels of PFOS and PFOA (combined) of 28.6 ppt, well over the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) recommendation of 20 ppt for these two compounds–and over twice the PFOS/PFOA levels found in Well 15 when it was closed down in 2019 (see the PFOS and PFOA levels in the letter linked above).
The full results from this home, obtained in an open records request, showed that the total PFAS levels in its well water were well over 200 ppt, and significantly exceeded the DHS “Hazard Index” level for a combined 18 PFAS compounds. Consequently, the DNR offered the residents a “temporary emergency drinking water supply.”
But after analyzing PFAS levels in the well at this residence, the military sent the owners a letter assuring them their water was safe, because levels were under the U.S. EPA’s health advisory level at that time of 70 ppt for PFOS + PFOA (this HAL did not include other PFAS compounds).
On July 6, 2022, PFAS results from this home’s drinking water were featured in a story by Tom Perkins in The Guardian. The Guardian’s analysis, by professor Graham Peaslee at Notre Dame, assessed “total organic fluorine” (TOF), and found 197 ppt. Peaslee says this method is a more accurate assessment of the total levels of PFAS in our drinking water than the approved EPA method.
Recently the EPA released interim lifetime Health Advisory Levels (HALs) of 0.004 ppt for PFOA and 0.02 ppt for PFOS.
The very unfortunate people living at this home, and previous residents of the property (a very old farmhouse that was a rental for some years prior), unknowingly drank PFAS at levels several orders of magnitude over these EPA HALs for years.
Where did the PFAS come from? Most likely, from Dane County-owned Truax Field–which includes the Dane County Regional Airport, Air National Guard base, former Truax Landfill and Burke Sewage plant (now owned by MGE).
Where did the high levels of PFAS in this shallow private well come from? The well, drilled in 2000 because the previous shallower well ran out of water, is 127 feet deep (if I’m reading this form correctly). The home is just southwest of the HW 151 and HW 30 interchange, right behind the McCormick apartments, along the highly PFAS contaminated Starkweather Creek.
The home is just a few thousand feet east/southeast of a couple obvious likely sources–the Truax Landfill (now topped by the Bridges Golf Course), the PFAS-contaminated former Burke Sewage Plant (now owned by MGE). The Dane County Regional Airport (including two burn pits) and Air National Guard base (a lessee of DCRA)–all heavily PFAS-contaminated– are a few more thousand feet to the north of the home. All of these sites are part of what’s known as Truax Field, owned by Dane County. To visualize, see this graphic.
The surface waters from these Truax Field PFAS hotspots flow south/southeast into Starkweather Creek which flows just west of this home. The shallow and deep groundwater under them also flow south/southeast towards this home. It’s well documented that hydrogeologically, the surface water and groundwater in this area are closely connected.
I am not a hydrogeologist, but it seems a no-brainer that the Truax Field PFAS hotspots are sources of the PFAS in this relatively shallow private well. How big–how wide and how deep– is the PFAS plume under this whole area? Nobody knows, because Dane County has not been following DNR remediation and redevelopment laws (NR 716) requiring it to delineate the plume. As for stormwater laws requiring the county to control PFAS discharging from Truax Field storm drains, the county is actually legally fighting DNR to get out of them.
This sad situation raises many more questions…
What are the implications of these high PFAS levels at 130 feet down in the aquifer at this location?
Why did the U.S. military test this well in the first place?
Did they test any other private wells that might be affected by Truax Fields toxic plume? Will they?
Are any government agencies (city, county, state) and/or the military investigating this situation further? What are they doing about it?
Why is nobody talking about this publicly?
And many more…
