[CPEO-MEF] PFAS: "Firefighting foam contaminates millions of gallons of Sioux Falls [SD] water"

[Lenny Siegel]

Firefighting foam contaminates millions of gallons of Sioux Falls water
From the JOURNAL SPECIAL REPORT: The toxic legacy of firefighting foam series

by Samuel Blackstone 
Rapid City Journal (SD)
November 5, 2018
  
In 1970, innumerable gallons of toxic, chemical-laden firefighting foam started contaminating the grounds of Sioux Falls Regional Airport. Almost 50 years later, the city is now dealing with the consequences.

Today, 19 municipal wells sit dormant. Chemicals linked to cancer and other health maladies have contaminated 15 of those wells, including 10 with concentrations above what the Environmental Protection Agency deems safe. Foam use by the South Dakota Air National Guard and Sioux Falls Fire Department is the cause.

As city officials grapple with the well shutdowns — representing 28 percent of the city's water production from the Big Sioux aquifer — it may soon face an even larger challenge when citizens begin to learn how long their drinking water was contaminated before it was detected and the wells taken offline. As that question looms, the contamination's scope remains unclear.

…

For the entire article, see
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/firefighting-foam-contaminates-millions-of-gallons-of-sioux-falls-water/article_fa8ca607-662d-5b2b-9a7f-75816870396e.html

See also https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/cleaning-up-ellsworth-a-costly-effort/article_e6073d48-e46c-5479-994e-70dfc5a1a342.html

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel at cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org