Photo (Maria Powell): Bridges Golf Course ditch flowing into Starkweather Creek, where the highest levels of PFOS were found
Nice coverage by a Madison newspaper of our Starkweather Creek sediment testing; see full report here…
High PFAS levels found in Starkweather Creek sediment
Test results of PFAS in troubled Starkweather Creek sediment show high levels for one of the more toxic varieties of the chemical group.
The results add to concerns about PFAS pollution in the creek, where water, foam and fish have already been found to have high levels of the man-made chemicals that are linked to an array of health problems, including immune deficiencies, liver and kidney problems, birth defects and cancer.
The tests were commissioned by the Midwest Environmental Justice Organization (MEJO), which sent samples from five sites along the creek to the state Lab of Hygiene last fall.
Maria Powell, director of the group, said she arranged for the testing after her requests were rejected by the city and county officials, and by the state Department of Natural Resources, which has conducted similar tests that found contamination in the creek.
“Sediment PFAS data is critical for understanding how PFAS compounds travel through aquatic food webs and for comprehensively assessing ecological risks to the creek, lake, fish, birds and wildlife,” she said.
She said the current coronavirus pandemic adds to the dangers posed by PFAS contamination and called for remediation of the sediment.
“The COVID-19 crisis further highlights the need to clean up PFAS and other toxic chemical pollution,” she said. “PFAS exposures are associated with immune system deficiencies that make people more likely to become infected by diseases such as COVID-19 and more likely to die from them.”
