1300 Cleveland Ave. PFAS Groundwater Results Now Available on DNR Website
- 1300 Cleveland Avenue, PFAS
- May 12, 2025
In recent weeks, the Wisconsin DNR posted the latest PFAS groundwater results for 1300 Cleveland Avenue on its website. The site, which is zoned residential and sits in the middle of a densely populated residential area, is an open Environmental Repair Program (ERP) site. ERP sites are sites that have contaminated soil and/or groundwater that are addressed under Wisconsin statutes (Wis. Stat. 292.31).
The City of Wausau is listed on the DNR website as the Responsible Party for the site.
The City’s environmental consultant for the site provided the DNR with information on the latest PFAS groundwater results. This status report from the consultant is dated March 12, 2025. The full report is embedded below.
The report states: “During the August and November sampling events, total PFAS concentrations in the upgradient wells ranged from approximately 50 to 118 ng/L and 134 to 228 ng/L, respectively. Meanwhile, the total PFAS concentrations detected in other onsite wells during the August and November sampling events ranged from approximately 20 to 63 ng/L and 22 to 96 ng/L, respectively.”
Apparently, in part due to the comparison of PFAS concentrations in 1300 Cleveland Avenue onsite wells to PFAS concentrations in offsite wells that are upgradient of the property, the consultant asserts that one of the possibilities is that PFAS detections at the site “are attributable to an offsite source.” Per DNR records, 1300 Cleveland Avenue sits in close proximity to other sites that are presently or formerly contaminated.
Despite the fact that the report’s date is from two months ago, no update appears to have been given to the public either off or on the City of Wausau’s website.
Weeks ago, the EPA requested that all groundwater monitoring wells be tested for PFAS on a City-involved superfund site along the Wisconsin River. This superfund site had been associated with VOC contamination of the drinking water supply decades earlier. Despite the major significance of the EPA requesting that the entire monitoring well network of the superfund site be tested for PFAS, no meaningful update appears to have been given to the local public in that situation either.
Seven years ago, local residents requested that the City of Wausau create a simple page on its website to provide environmental and contamination updates to the public on City-involved properties. Despite the seemingly low cost related to such an improvement in communication and transparency, it never occurred.
20250312_43_PFAS_GW_Results_March_2025
