By Steve Verburg, Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin wastewater plants were built to keep pollutants out of the environment, but state regulators have come to realize the facilities may be spreading hazardous industrial chemicals in ways that increase health risks.
Normal sewage treatment processes kill bacteria, but they can’t touch highly fluorinated chemicals known by the acronym PFAS (pronounced “pea-fass”), which have been described as one of the most seminal public health challenges of coming decades.
PFAS typically enter the human body in drinking water contaminated by the heaviest users of the chemicals — military bases, fire departments and many manufacturers. One route PFAS takes to drinking water begins at the users’ sewer drains.
Miles of underground sewer lines carry the virtually indestructible synthetic compounds to publicly owned sewage plants, which release them with treated wastewater into public waters and treated sewage sludge that is applied to farm fields as fertilizer.
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