METRO BR BRiiEFS
by B.C. Kowalski
Filtration contemplation
City leaders urge city staff, Water Commission to move quickly on temporary solutions to provide safe water The result of a nearly one and a half-hour meeting Tuesday evening was pretty clear: The city should move fast and not dally when it comes to finding ways to provide clean water to Wausau’s residents. The city council, meeting as a committee of the whole to discuss solutions to the PFAS crisis, mostly agreed that city staff should bring some solutions to the city’s Water Commission on March 1 that the council can ultimately fund. Those solutions include the possibility of buying home filtration devices (either pitchers or under the sink models) with the proven ability to test for PFAS chemicals, providing bottled water or the possibility of a mobile filtration device that could temporarily attach to the current water plant. The city earlier this month announced that testing in January had discovered polyfluoroalkyl substances (known as PFAS) in the city’s water supply. The levels, between 23-48 parts per trillion, are lower than the current Environmental Protection Agency standard of 70 ppt but below new proposed standards recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Health Services of 20 ppt. The state’s Natural Resources Board took up the new proposal past City Pages’s deadline. PFAS chemicals are found in a number of household products and can have a number of negative health impacts, including causing cancer. City council member Tom Kilian told the committee that he’d identified some filters highlighted in a 2020 study by Duke University as filtering most of the PFAS out of drinking water. That study contradicts DHS broad since 1870. Providing education
recommendations about carbon-based filters. City Council President Becky McElhaney told the committee she favors the mobile filtration device used at the water plant, since it would clean the water for all residents, not just those who knew to pick up the filter. But, city council member Lisa Rasmussen said, that could take three months and cost more than $2 million, and in the meantime residents want clean water. City Council Member Lou Larson told the committee he favors looking into and using all three types if possible. The Water Commission will meet on March 1 and city staff should have recommendations for them to consider. The Finance Committee and city council will then meet on March 8 or in a special meeting earlier if necessary. The council will consider those recommendations, but also could act on its own if they feel the commission’s recommendations aren’t sufficient.
City applying for ARPA funds to test PFAS solutions
The city is applying for American Rescue Plan Act dollars to help fund a pilot study looking at the best way to remove polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the city’s drinking water supply. The application, included in the city’s Finance Committee packet, calls for $240,000 from ARPA funds, listing the urgency as the highest priority, or emergency. Public Works Director Eric Lindman says the pilot study is an evolving process, and that the Public Works Department has been working with the Wisconsin
OPEN HOUSE & FAMILY NIGHT March 9 – 5pm to 7pm
Activities: Luminary Walk on our Forest Trails Olive Garden Soup and Breadsticks Crafts Face Painting Photo Booth Selfie Tour the School and Meet the Staff
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February 24-March 3, 2022
Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission in developing the pilot study. The study, approved earlier this month by the city’s Water Commission, would test a number of materials to find out which would best filter PFAS from the city’s drinking water. Those filters could also then be used in the city’s new drinking water plant, which is slated to go online as soon as this summer. There is also talk about studying whether PFAS is in the wastewater process, Lindman says. While there are currently no regulations regarding wastewater, it’s something the city could consider testing.
Grand Theater lifts vaccination requirements; not masks
Visitors to the Grand Theater will no longer need to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend shows; but will still be required to wear masks while in the building. The change comes as COVID-19 numbers continue to decline. Numbers of cases in Wisconsin have declined to a tenth of what they were earlier in the year. Marathon County had a peak 7-day average case count of 383 in mid-January; that 7-day average dropped to 28 as of Wednesday and continues to decline. All patrons will still be required to wear masks unless eating or drinking, and all staff will be masked. Some acts might have their own rules and might still require proof of vaccination. Grand Theater staff will post those requirements on the Grand’s website on the ticketing page, and
