Des Moines Water Works received notice this month that the utility will get nearly $10 million from chemical companies for PFAS contamination in drinking water.
Des Moines is one of several cities across Iowa with water systems that have received, or are expected to receive, money to help mitigate the problems caused by Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), known as forever chemicals.
Minnesota-based 3M agreed to pay up to $12.5 billion for a class-action lawsuit. Court documents show more than 50 Iowa municipalities, water systems and even a mobile home park near the Mississippi River took part in the initial court filing two years ago.
Officials with Des Moines Water Works did not offer any comments at this time, but said its board of trustees planned to discuss the settlement during its next meeting. The utility was awarded $9.7 million from 3M, which will be reduced by fees and paid through a series of payments over nine years.
The cost of PFAS
West Des Moines Water Works General Manager Christina Murphy said the settlement will help, but likely won't cover all costs associated with cleaning up water supplies.
“PFAS has shown up in a number of our shallow wells, and we are not able to run some of those wells in combination with each other to keep our PFAS below the standard. So it has definitely impacted our operations in West Des Moines," Murphy said. "The long-term solution remains uncertain. It depends on finding PFAS-free water sources."
West Des Moines Water Works received word of legal agreements from 3M and DuPont for more than $3 million in July of last year. In April, it received more than $173,000 from the chemical company BASF and the fire protection company Tyco.
Murphy said experts don’t know the exact root of the PFAS contamination, but they suspect firefighting foam used by a now-closed training center caused some of the problems — but not all.
“We actually see PFAS compounds in the three different well fields, and they have different sorts of signatures. So I don't know that we know conclusively where the source of all the contamination is,” she said. “The challenge is now becoming, 'Can I find source water that doesn't have PFAS in it?' I think that'll be a long-term challenge for us.”
Settlements for other Iowa cities
The Gazette reported that the city of Cedar Rapids planned to potentially use money from its settlement for a major water infrastructure project. City officials expected to receive about $6 million from 3M and smaller payouts from other companies.
The city council in Sioux City approved a deal in May for more than $500,000 from 3M and DuPont to address drinking water contamination.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) detected PFAS in one water source in 2022 in the Sioux City metro area.
Officials say the contamination likely came from firefighting foam used at the nearby Iowa Air National Guard base. Other sources for PFAS include nonstick cookware, flame and stain-resistant fabric and food packaging. It can also build up in soil and sediment near industrial and military sites.
“The frustrating thing is that [PFAS] hasn't been ruled out at the federal level, so people can still use those compounds in manufacturing,” Murphy said. “A lot of industries have taken steps not to use them anymore, but there's no federal rule preventing them from doing so.”
Testing for a health hazard
Exposure to PFAS comes with several health risks, including thyroid problems, immune system changes and a higher risk of certain cancers.
“You know, the EPA wouldn't regulate it if it weren't a concern. And so that's kind of why the EPA has created a maximum contaminant level, so that they can be protective of public health that is related to PFAs contamination,” Corey McCoid, water supply supervisor for the Iowa DNR, said.
In 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency significantly lowered the threshold for PFAS from 70 parts per trillion to 0.004 parts per trillion for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and 0.002 parts per trillion for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA).
McCoid said the Iowa DNR started statewide sampling for PFAS even earlier, back in 2020. About a dozen locations currently have levels above federal guidelines.
“What we've seen a lot so far across the state is people taking wells offline and then utilizing other wells or putting new wells in to replace those wells,” McCoid said.
The city of Dubuque is estimated to receive $3.4 million over the next eight years as part of a settlement with 3M. Officials said the funds are being used to decrease city water utility rates. To mitigate the PFAS contamination of Dubuque’s shallow wells, the city is drilling a new, deeper well at a cost of $4.4 million.
The general manager for Burlington Municipal Waterworks, Shane Johnson, said he’s still waiting to hear what his community might receive from the settlement. In the meantime, Burlington tests its water every quarter and took one well offline.
Muscatine Power and Water is also working through the settlement process and finalizing amounts and timing for disbursements. Director Erika Cox pointed out that Muscatine’s PFAS numbers are low, and she anticipated that a downward trend would continue as manufacturers upstream stop using chemicals.
She said Muscatine’s level of 4 parts per trillion (PPT) is the equivalent of one drop in five Olympic-sized swimming pools — a level nearly undetectable, but sampling methods remain stringent to prevent any cross-contamination.
Meanwhile, Andrew Kida, city administrator of Camanche, said the EPA required 3M to mitigate its issue outside of a class-action lawsuit. The company operates a plant along the Mississippi River in nearby Cordova, Illinois.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch reported the EPA found the facility had contaminated the river and the surrounding area for decades with PFAS emissions into the air, wastewater and sludge.
So far, Kida said 3M has invested more than $3.5 million to help drill new wells and connect private wells to the city’s water system. He expected that another $2 million would cover the additional upgrades needed.
As Iowa cities continue to seek safe resolutions, McCoid noted that less-populated communities may lack the resources to participate in litigation against companies.
“Some have resources like city attorneys or staff, there are trade associations that can maybe help some of those smaller communities,” McCoid said.
