Wausau City Hall. MWC file photo
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau City Council held a 90-minute Committee of the Whole discussion on Tuesday regarding PFAS in the city’s drinking water supply, making it clear that they want to see plans for a short-term solution to the issue by their March 8th meeting.
“The Finance Committee is standing ready to consider a recommendation,” said Alder Lisa Rasmussen, who chairs that Committee. “We could [approve it] at Finance and at Council the same night, and we can at least make a start on a short-term solution.”
The solution would be workshopped at the March 1st Water Works Commission meeting. Rasmussen says that solution, be it bottled water or filtration pitchers, would help restore confidence in the city’s water supply which she says has eroded in the two weeks since the PFAS findings were announced. “If we continue to allow fear, doubt, and a lack of confidence in our water system- you’ve got a lot of uncertainty that is just breeding anxiety out in the community. So if a short-term investment in something that gets us over the hump between now and August will calm these concerns- I think that’s funding well spent.”
August is when the city’s new drinking water treatment plant is scheduled to come online. Both Public Works Director Eric Lindman and Mayor Katie Rosenberg have made it clear that they don’t want PFAS to be an issue in the water once that $40 million plant begins distribution.
Rasmussen noted that the Finance Committee also approved a quarter-million in ARPA funding to conduct the pilot study on the new drinking water treatment plant, which will help determine which filtration options will help the city get below proposed state standards. “We are on the right track there.”
In the meantime, donors continue to make pallets of bottled water available to those that need it through The Neighbor’s Place. Rosenberg said she recently secured another 31 pallets for distribution and could get another shipment of that same amount for just the cost of shipping. Rasmussen instructed Rosenberg to bring that cost forward to the next Finance Committee meeting on March 8th as well, unless she could find donations to cover all or some of the cost. “I believe you have budgetary discretion to spend up to $5,000 without asking anyone- if those opportunities present themselves.”
Alder Jim Wadinski acknowledged that the state’s Natural Resources Board could shoot down the proposed 20 parts per trillion standards during their meeting Wednesday. But he said even if that happens he feels the city should still hold itself to that standard. Others including Mayor Rosenberg and Alder Tom Kilian agreed.
Council President Becky McElhaney said she would still like the city to at least investigate a temporary filtration system for the current plant which she says is the most equitable solution. But Rasmussen noted that could come with a price tag of up to $2 million because it would involve cutting a hole in the current plant to hook up the equipment. It would also require a heating source to keep the water from freezing while it’s being treated outside the building.
Lindman used the meeting to announce that the water currently being distributed by the soon-to-be-retired plant is at about 30 PPT, meaning the city is well below the federal guidelines but still above the DNR’s proposal.
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