PFAS Found in All 27 Groundwater Testing Wells in Dakota County

Dakota County, Minnesota, has found a harmful group of chemicals called PFAS in every single one of its 27 environmental groundwater testing wells. The county also tested 114 private drinking wells, and PFAS showed up in 94 of them. Some of those wells had chemical levels higher than what state and federal guidelines say is safe. Officials recently launched a new online dashboard so residents can check results for wells near their homes.

PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Most people call them 'forever chemicals' because they do not break down easily in the environment or in the human body. They are used in everyday products like nonstick cookware, cosmetics, and upholstery. Because they stick around for so long, they can build up in water supplies and cause health problems over time. A recent Minnesota law banned their use in manufacturing to help slow the spread.

Dakota County has been testing private drinking wells for PFAS since 2018. The county's Environmental Resources Department collected water samples to find out how widespread the problem was. Now, all of that data is available on a new public dashboard. The dashboard highlights the three most worrying types of PFAS and shows whether they were found in each well and whether levels are above safety guidelines. Valeria Neppl, the county's groundwater protection unit supervisor, said the information has been public for years, but the dashboard makes it much easier to use.

One well with high PFAS levels was near Janet Frandrup's farm in rural Hastings. Frandrup said her home already has a reverse osmosis filtration system, which can remove forever chemicals from drinking water. County officials said other homeowners who are worried about their wells have a simpler option. 'The recommendation that we have is you could do something as simple as doing a granulated activated carbon filter,' said Neppl. Both types of filters can lower the amount of PFAS in tap water.

Private well owners have more to worry about than people on city water systems. Municipal water is regularly tested and must meet federal drinking water standards set by the government. But people who own private wells are responsible for testing and treating their own water. 'If you're on a private well, really you're responsible for your own system,' Neppl said. 'So, it's up to you to make decisions on your treatment.'

The problem is not limited to Dakota County. The Minnesota Department of Health runs a statewide dashboard that tracks PFAS in community water systems. More than 20 of those systems need treatment for high PFAS levels. One of them is Robbinsdale in Hennepin County, where crews are drilling hundreds of feet underground to find the source of the chemicals. Workers from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, also called the MPCA, are helping with that investigation.

The MPCA says the total cost of protecting Minnesota's drinking water from PFAS will top one billion dollars. That price includes treating water, investigating pollution sources, and taking steps to clean things up. Removing PFAS from wastewater would cost billions more. Minnesota is trying to focus on prevention first. Under a law called Amara's Law, the state plans to phase out all nonessential uses of PFAS in products by 2032.