10/04/2019- The public got a closer look at the pros and cons of two long-term remediation options for PFAS contamination in private wells in the Town of Peshtigo. In April, the Town enlisted the help of Cedar Corporation, a consulting firm out of Green Bay, to investigate a pair of alternatives to ensure the delivery of clean, safe drinking water to residents in the area southeast of Tyco’s Fire Training Center impacted by PFAS contamination and the preliminary results of that work were presented at a meeting Thursday. The first option was to install deeper private wells, some 600 feet into the ground, to draw water from below the contaminated aquifer. While this route would not require as much to operate and maintain, Maija Seppanen with Cedar Corp says drilling these wells can be a gamble.
“We don’t know exactly what type of water we’re going to encounter, if there’s going to enough water there to be a long-term supply…So, if this alternative were to be implemented, I’d recommend installing a couple of test wells to see what kind of yield we get and see what kind of treatment system may be required before a full-scale implementation occurs.”
The Town of Peshtigo also asked Cedar Corp to study the potential of extending City of Peshtigo municipal water lines to the 168 affected homes. Municipal water is considered the safest and most reliable source of drinking water, but extending and maintaining the City’s water main an additional twelve miles would take a lot of time and effort and, as Seppanen informed residents, isn’t something the City hasn’t expressed any interest in.
“They would be willing to wholesale distribute the water to the Town in the study area. So, there would be a master water meter and then from that meter and that connection at the City, everything on this side of that 12 miles would be the responsibility of the township and it’s likely a sanitary district would be required.”
Seppanen says the investigation into these alternatives is still ongoing. The company was not asked to study the feasibility of extending Marinette’s municipal water lines, so that option was not presented at Thursday’s public meeting.