Feb. 12, 2007: Water probe's progress at issue

For more than two years, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has known that an old 3M dump was the likely source of chemicals that contaminated drinking water in Oakdale. The agency's response so far has been to ask 3M to study the problem.

Those studies have shown pollution at levels thousands of times higher than state health advisory guidelines permit for well water. Still, the pollution isn't high enough in the agency's view to require 3M to dig up and remove the contaminated soil.

Some lawmakers are questioning whether the MPCA has been aggressive enough with the company. Meanwhile, the scope of groundwater pollution from 3M compounds called perfluorochemicals (PFCs) has widened. A series of public meetings begins today to discuss the Minnesota Health Department's recent discovery of contaminants in six other communities.

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, said some MPCA managers have downplayed the seriousness of the contamination and called the agency's actions "outrageous."

Marty said the MPCA should demand immediate cleanup at the Oakdale dump rather than asking 3M to conduct successive studies that can consume years. "The agency has shown a pattern of dereliction of duty that ought to change," he said.

MPCA Commissioner Brad Moore said that the PFC contamination has been a serious issue for him since he became commissioner last summer and that he is directing staff to address it on multiple fronts. He said that 3M will be required to clean up some contaminated sites but that multiple studies are sometimes needed so the cleanups will be thorough and effective.

"It's a priority for the agency, and it's a priority for me," he said.

Communities watching

How much the state will require 3M to clean up sources of long-buried wastes is an issue of growing interest as PFCs show up in groundwater in other Twin Cities communities. Last month state health officials detected low levels of PFBA, another 3M chemical, in the municipal wells of Woodbury, Cottage Grove, Newport, South St. Paul, St. Paul Park and Hastings.

The Oakdale PFC investigation dates to late 2004, when state health officials found levels of the chemical in several city wells. Until 2002, 3M manufactured PFCs for decades for use in nonstick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics and dozens of other products, and buried the wastes in the Oakdale dump from 1956 to 1960.

The MPCA requested that 3M study the site, and findings submitted in September indicated high levels of PFCs in soil and groundwater. In spite of those results, Michael Kanner, director of the MPCA's Superfund program, said that the company has not proposed to remove contaminated soil from the old landfill and that the agency does not plan to require it.

"If there was a pit that had pure goop, pure sludge that was high in PFCs, we'd require them to excavate that at Oakdale," said Kanner, who said that covering the dump with a layer of clean soil and adding to a groundwater pump-out system would be more feasible. Another 3M study is now analyzing those alternatives. Sen. Katie Sieben, DFL-Cottage Grove, called that an unacceptable solution and said it raises questions about the agency's relationship with 3M. "The MPCA should be looking out for protecting the public's health, and if there's still a source of pollution that's leaching into the groundwater, they can't just cover it with another foot or two of fill and expect that it will go away," she said. "The MPCA cannot try to dance around the issue."

`Really high concentrations'

According to 3M's recent study, a chemical called PFOS was detected at concentrations up to 22,000 parts per billion (ppb) in soil and up to 8,343 ppb in groundwater at the Oakdale dump. Another chemical called PFOA was measured there at up to 4,070 ppb in soil and up to 23,700 ppb in groundwater.

The state's well advisory guideline for PFOS is 0.6 ppb and for PFOA is 1.0 ppb. The guidelines are based upon how much of a chemical that health officials say is safe to drink daily over a lifetime.

A University of Minnesota researcher who studies PFCs said the levels found in the Oakdale dump are among the highest he has seen reported in scientific literature. Matt Simcik, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health, said the levels are comparable to what researchers found in Canada in 2000 after 22,000 liters of PFC-laden firefighting foam spilled accidentally into a stream near Toronto's airport.

"These are really, really high concentrations," said Simcik, referring to the levels in the Oakdale dump. "It shows that there's free product PFCs in there that's leaking out of the landfill for sure."

Kanner said that the PFCs have been found only in a few hot spots and that the levels are not alarming.

He said: "22,000 parts per billion sounds like a big number, but that means 22 parts per million. ... So if you had a million marbles, and you put 22 in there, that's how much you'd have."

Assessing health effects

Scientists are still learning about the health effects of exposure to PFCs, which do not degrade in the environment and in some cases accumulate in humans. High levels of PFCs have been linked to liver damage and developmental problems in laboratory animals. An Environmental Protection Agency scientific panel recommended last year that PFOA be classified as a likely carcinogen.

MPCA Commissioner Moore said the agency is working on other metro sites where 3M buried wastes. Agency researchers are experimenting with resins to remove chemicals from groundwater at the former Washington County landfill in Lake Elmo, he said, and the agency has called for an expedited investigation of 3M's disposal in Woodbury.

At Oakdale, 3M provided $2.5 million to install a carbon filtration system to remove PFCs from two city wells. 3M spokesman Bill Nelson said the company has no comment on how the MPCA has conducted the pollution investigations.

"Aside from that issue, 3M is cooperating with the MPCA and the Department of Health and we will continue to do so," Nelson said.

Tom Meersman - 612-673-7388