MARINETTE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Town of Peshtigo residents concerned about the quality of their drinking water packed Little River Country Club for a community meeting Tuesday night.
Jeffrey Lamont, who has a home in the Town of Peshtigo and worked for an environmental firm for 28 years tells FOX 11….
“If I wanted to sell my house and I have to disclose I have a contaminated well, who is going to want to buy my property?”
Lamont’s well is one of 25 in the area that tested positive for two compounds that carry major health risks.
8 wells tested above the EPA’s Health Advisory Limit. 17 tested below and 57 wells had no detection of the compounds.
“It can impact pregnancies for women, it’s considered a potential carcinogen.”
Wisconsin follows EPA guidelines for the two compounds, PFOA an PFOS. Some states have their own guidelines, which are much stricter than the EPA’s standard.
Tyco Fire Products, which is owned by Johnson Controls, first detected groundwater contamination at its training facility in 2013.
John Perkins is executive director of environment, health, and safety for Tyco….
“The firefighting foam that was utilized at the facility did make its way into the groundwater of the facility, so that is the primary mechanism of transport as we know it today.”
Perkins says Tyco decided to start testing private wells in the area late last year.
“We will resample all of the private wells we’ve sampled to date, number one. Number two, we’re going to further do delineation off site within the groundwater of this area.”
Tyco shared that plan with residents at the meeting, one of several the company plans to hold throughout this year.
“We expect to look at long-term solutions, whether that’s providing municipal water supply, whether that’s looking at a deep bedrock well,” said Perkins.
That sounds good to Lamont…
“We’re looking for clarity; we’re looking for open communications with Johnson Controls on this. To date, we just don’t feel like we’ve gotten that.”
The DNR is overseeing Tyco’s efforts to investigate and fix the contamination. It’s a process DNR officials believe could take months.
Lamont believes it will likely be years before things are back to normal.
Tyco has been providing bottled water to all the homes with wells that are being tested.
A system to remove the contaminants has been offered to any home that tested above the EPA standard.
