Today – on this national Imagine a Day Without Water – 28 environmental and social justice organizations from around Wisconsin sent a joint statement to dozens of state legislators with known PFAS releases in their home districts.
The coalition, which includes groups based in impacted communities, supports a comprehensive state bill known as the CLEAR Act. For months now, Senate Bill 302/Assembly Bill 321 has been completely stalled because certain legislative committees are blocking public hearings necessary to move the bills forward.
“As it stands right now, public water systems in Wisconsin are not required to test our drinking water for PFAS,” the groups wrote. “The most important consequence of doing nothing is exposure to undetected PFAS contamination in our drinking water and our environment.”
Wisconsin lags behind other states – including Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts – that have already enacted enforceable health-based standards for PFAS. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that are very persistent in the environment and in the human body – meaning they don’t break down and they can accumulate over time.
The joint statement to legislators also provides answers to 10 key questions, including why strong regulation of PFAS is necessary to protect human health and the environment in Wisconsin.
“The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has some authority under current regulations but additional state regulations will: (1) make clear the DNR’s authority specific to PFAS – which industry is already challenging, (2) provide state agencies with the necessary resources to tackle PFAS contamination in Wisconsin, and (3) require a much shorter timeline for action,” the groups said.
“Presently it can take as long as 10 years to get standards on the books and affected communities need enforceable standards now,” the organizations emphasized.
The proposed CLEAR Act authorizes the DNR to create PFAS Solid Waste (landfill) standards and reporting rules, requires the DNR to set criteria for certifying laboratories to test for PFAS, and gives the DNR the authority to write rules on how to properly manage PFAS-contaminated drinking water, groundwater, surface water, soil, sediment, and biosolids.
Studies in humans with PFAS exposure have shown that certain PFAS may affect growth, learning, and behavior of infants and older children, lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, interfere with the body’s natural hormones, increase cholesterol levels, affect the immune system, and increase the risk of cancer.
The joint statement was organized by the PFAS Community Campaign and has been endorsed by the following Wisconsin organizations:
PFAS Community Campaign
Annie Appleseed Project
Citizens Advisory Committee of The Town of Peshtigo
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin
Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River, Inc.
Code PFAS
Concerned Friends & Neighbors Group of SOH2O
Crawford Stewardship Project
Family Farm Defenders
Friends of Lake Wingra
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin
Madison Audubon Society
Midwest Environmental Advocates
Midwest Environmental Justice Organization
Nukewatch
1000 Friends of Wisconsin
People Empowered Protect the Land (PEPL) of Rosendale
Physicians for Social Responsibility Wisconsin
Protect Wood County and It’s Neighbors
Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter
Twin Ports Action Alliance
Wisconsin Conservation Voters
Wisconsin Environment
Wisconsin Environmental Health Network
Wisconsin Network for Peace, Justice & Sustainability
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council