May 8, 2023 at 12:07 p.m.
DNR shares results of additional PFAS testing in Stella, recommendations coming
As of late January that number stood at 24, however additional testing has since led to the discovery of more contaminated wells, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
In a phone interview Thursday, DNR Northern Region Remediation and Redevelopment program supervisor Chris Saari said a number of Stella residents chose to avail themselves of the DNR's recent offer to test their wells.
In March, the agency sent letters offering cost-free well testing to 56 year-round residents of the rural township who live within 2.5 miles of the intersection of County Highway C and Stella Lake Road.
Two summer camps located within 2.5 miles of the Highway C and Stella Lake Road intersection also received letters, according to the DNR.
An initial sampling, conducted in late 2022 as part of a statewide project, involved wells and households located within approximately 1 mile of the Stella Town Hall.
In total, Saari noted that approximately 90 wells have been tested in Stella since last July, 88 by the DNR. Some residents chose to privately test their wells and a small number of wells were tested both by the DNR and through a private entity, he added, noting that some of the new results are from wells located within the original one-mile radius as some of the households located within that boundary did not initially take part in testing.
"Ultimately, we're trying to figure out some kind of long-term solution here," Saari said, noting that the results of the testing done in the summer made it clear that "a mile out was not far enough" in terms of a testing radius.
"We're trying to find the edges of it and in a reasonable fashion figure out how widespread it is," Saari explained.
Those whose wells showed PFAS levels above 20 parts per trillion - the current proposed drinking water standard - are eligible to receive water delivery via an agreement involving the DNR and Culligan.
Saari also said the DNR arranged for additional pallets of water to be delivered to the town in mid-April after the most recent batch of test results were received.
Some of the results from Stella represent some of the highest PFAS readings found in the state to date, according to the DNR. One woman who spoke during a January public meeting with DNR officials on the contamination issue said her next door neighbor's well showed PFAS contamination at more than 40,000 ppt (parts per trillion) and Saari indicated a sample from the expanded (2.5-mile radius) testing area showed detections of 30,000 PFOA and 1,600 PFOS (nanograms per liter/parts per trillion).
As with the testing done in the summer, the results continue to be something of a mixed bag. According to Saari, 24 wells had PFAS levels that fell below the drinking water standard and 28 wells showed no detectable PFAS.
PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals used for decades in numerous products, including non-stick cookware, fast food wrappers, stain-resistant sprays and certain types of firefighting foam. These contaminants have made their way into the environment through accidental spills of PFAS-containing materials, discharges of PFAS-containing wastewater to treatment plants and certain types of firefighting foams, according to the DNR. These chemicals are known to accumulate in the human body, posing several risks to human health including certain cancers, liver damage and decreased fertility.
DNR officials have stressed that it may take years, if ever, to definitevely determine what caused the contamination in Stella
"(PFAS) marches to the beat of its own drummer in the environment," DNR remediation and redevelopment program manager Christine Sieger stated during a late January media briefing on the Stella PFAS investigation. "It doesn't behave like other things in the environment and so investigation into PFAS... like any other contaminant, can take years. In some cases we're not going to find a responsible party. We're going to look and we might find that we can't tell where it's coming from. We could find that there are multiple sources responsible. It's an iterative process and it's one that takes time."
One potential source of the contamination mentioned by Stella residents during the January public meeting was the use of sludge on agricultural fields in the town.
On Feb. 7, in response to an inquiry from the River News, the DNR confirmed the City of Rhinelander and the Ahlstrom-Munskjo paper mill spread sludge in Stella from the late 1990s to 2011, in the case of the city, and 2021 in the case of the mill.
"We can confirm that both sewage sludge (also known as biosolids) from the Rhinelander Wastewater Treatment Facility and Paper Mill Sludge from the Ahlstrom-Munksjo Specialty Solutions Facility (also known as Expera Specialty Solutions) was spread in the Town of Stella," DNR field operations manager Tim Ryan said in response to a request from the newspaper for information on the agency's documentation of the use of sludge in Stella. "The City of Rhinelander has spread biosolids on 8 different sites in the Town of Stella between 1997 and 2011. Ahlstrom Munksjo (or previous owners) have spread paper mill sludge on 63 different sites in the Town of Stella between 1996 and 2021."
In disclosing the information on the past use of sludge in Stella, the agency was careful to note it cannot definitively say the spreading of sludge caused the contamination.
"The Department does not have PFAS data for the paper mill sludge or sewage sludge/biosolids that was land applied," Ryan said. "The Department is in the process of identifying potential sources."
In response to the report, Addie Teeters, head of marketing communications & public affairs for Ahlstrom Munksjo, stressed that the company received permits from the DNR for its "landspreading activities."
"Since Ahlstrom acquired the Rhinelander mill in 2018, it has continued participating in a regulated biosolids landspreading program administered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources," Teeters wrote in response to an email request for comment on the DNR report. "As part of that program, we have received and operate pursuant to permits issued by the Department. We maintain records which are provided to the Department relating to our ongoing landspreading activities."
"Ahlstrom has led the marketplace in developing PFAS-free technology for more than a decade and utilizes our FluoroFree® technology at the Rhinelander mill," she added.
"At this time the City cannot validate what spreading the DNR may have authorized in the 1990s and early 2000s," city attorney Steve Sorenson wrote in response to a request for comment from the city regarding its past history of spreading sludge in Stella.
"Since I have been with the City there has been no spreading of biosolids in the Town of Stella by the City," Sorenson added.
"Even though I was not involved nor were any of the current staff of the City involved it is the desire of the City of Rhinelander to maintain the quality of our water supply. This is where the city is directing its efforts. The City is looking at new filtration systems and a potential new well or wells to insure safe water to the citizens of Rhinelander. The City is looking to the future rather than spending time in the 'blame game' environment that so many others are supporting. Our most recent tests of the City water supply demonstrates that the City's commitment to safe water is working."
Indeed, the City Council voted earlier this year to retain the services of MSA Professional Services for investigation and development of a location for a proposed Well No. 9. A new well has been deemed necessary as two city wells located near the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport - No. 7 and No. 8 - have been offline since 2019 due to unsafe levels of PFAS.
The city currently has three functioning wells.
Saari said the department is evaluating the new data from the most recent testing and determining next steps. The goal is to provide "recommendations for long-term solutions" in the near future, he added.
"We know that people are concerned about this, and rightfully so, and we want to share as much information as we can," he said.
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