City says PFAS chemicals can be burned, if found in sewer system

The PFAS chemicals being detected in French Island wells are often called “forever chemicals,” but maybe they don’t last forever. 

The city of La Crosse says burning may be the best way to get rid of PFAS found in local wastewater. 

City utility manager Bernie Lenz tells a La Crosse County committee that drying sludge from the sewage can trap those chemicals in a solid material, that can be burned for energy.

“The fluorine-carbon bond is a very, very strong bond, and one of the only ways to really break that bond and separate it back out and actually destroy PFAS is through incinerations,” said

Meanwhile, families on French Island who have found PFAS in their well water are hoping the DNR can keep supplying them with bottled water. 

The clerk for the town of Campbell, Cassie Hanan, says the state’s agreement to provide families with drinking water only lasts until early fall.