3M chemical found in nearly 100 east-metro private wells

A chemical once made by 3M has been found in nearly 100 private wells in communities on the east side of the metro area ? including Woodbury, Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park ? and health officials say concerned residents may want to buy bottled water or install granular carbon filters.

Minnesota health officials don't know the potential long-term health risks from drinking water containing the chemical called PFBA. The latest tests found the chemicals in concentrations higher than the state's guideline of 1 part per billion.

Virginia Yingling, hydrogeologist for the state Department of Health, said Wednesday that the state tested 350 wells over the past three months after the chemical was found in public drinking water in Woodbury, Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, Hastings, South St. Paul and Newport.

Yingling said the chemical appears to have come from a 3M disposal site in Woodbury, where the company legally buried wastes decades ago.

Levels of PFBA found in public water earlier this year ranged up to 2.3 parts per billion, but she said concentrations in private wells reached as high as 5.8 parts per billion.

Yingling said more private wells will be tested.

The research was mentioned during a half-day discussion in Saint Paul that included about 100 local, state and federal officials, industry representatives and others.

PFBA was used in photographic film and other products. It is part of a larger family of compounds called perfluorochemicals, which have been found in drinking water in Oakdale and Lake Elmo, and in fish in the Mississippi River and in Lake Calhoun.

A phone message left with a 3M spokesman was not immediately returned Thursday. But 3M officials have said that at concentrations found in the environment, the compounds have never shown adverse health effects, even among employees exposed to much higher levels.

Mary Dominiak, perfluorochemical coordinator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said the compounds do not break down in the environment and they accumulate in human blood.

"These chemicals don't behave like anything else on the planet," Dominiak said. "That makes them very difficult to study."

She said it may be a few years before the EPA can pinpoint what concentrations might be risky for humans.

But local officials said they want answers, while frustrated and concerned residents ask whether their water is safe to drink.

"We're answering the phone every day trying to provide information and guidance to people," said Cindy Weckwerth, a program specialist for public health and the environment in Washington County.

Cottage Grove Mayor Sandy Shiely said the issue also raises concern about property values, attracting new businesses and residential development.

"All these issues affect the sense of well-being in our communities," said Rep. Julie Bunn, DFL-Lake Elmo.

Tom Sinks, deputy director of the National Center for Environmental Health, said it's reassuring that studies done so far have not shown problems, but that it's premature to conclude that exposure is risk-free.

"We haven't done the number of health studies that we need to conclude that they're safe," he said.

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