3M factory creates Post-It adhesives and harmful PFAS chemicals, tainting drinking water in the area, EPA says

UPDATE, Nov. 24: Wisconsin Watch passes along what to do about PFAS in your water.

EPA map shows selected radii from Cordova, Ill., plant

Early this fall, rural Cordova, Ill., and its surrounding 3-mile radius along the northern Mississippi Rover received news that the area's 3M plant has been polluting the river with PFAS chemicals. "Plant chemicals have found a way into the river and their home wells," report Bennet Goldstein of Wisconsin Watch and Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco of WNIJ Northern Public Radio.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency detected PFAS or "forever chemicals" in the area in 2019. "Now the agency says the drinking water of nearly 300,000 people, including the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa, will need additional testing to ensure it is safe," they report.

This fall's announcement and follow-up EPA guidance has confused area residents and public officials seeking to manage the crisis: "City officials in Camanche, Iowa, announced that the municipal water, which serves almost 4,600 people, tested positive for two of the chemicals above EPA limits," Goldstein and Ramirez-Franco write. "The city advised residents to contact their healthcare providers or consider installing home filters. Now officials are informing water customers that the city is seeking 'expert guidance from state and federal authorities' and more guidance will issued once it becomes available. . . . Their announcements have not eased the fears of several Camanche residents, who on social media reacted to the city’s latest press release with dismay." Several commenters simply wanted to know if they could drink the water or not.

The Cordova facility opened in 1970, and the EPA permits the company to discharge its wastewater into the Mississippi River, but 3M must monitor it for PFAS. "This summer, 3M began testing some of the drinking water near Cordova for PFAS and offered to sample about 190 private wells within a 3-mile radius of the plant." they write. "The company later started to contact private well owners with an offer to install in-home water treatment systems, regardless of their sampling results."