La Crosse committee approves $25,000 in bottle water funding for Campbell residents affected by PFAS

It’s been over a year now that residents in the town of Campbell on French Island have been forced to use bottled water because of PFAS contamination in the ground water there.

Back in early October, residents were told by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources they would be using bottled water “indefinitely.” The DNR estimated that would cost $550,000-$600,000 a year.

The city of La Crosse gave an initial approval for more funding Thursday.

The Finance and Personnel Committee approved $25,000 for the city share of purchasing bottled water from Culligan this year.

Mayor Mitch Reynolds said during the committee meeting at the Southside Neighborhood Center the city has to pay some of the cost, because the La Crosse Regional Airport reportedly caused the water pollution by using firefighting foam that contained PFAS.

“The DNR is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to supply water for virtually the rest of the island,” Reynolds said.

The city share of the water funding works out to about $2,500 a month, so the proposed spending would cover the rest of 2022.

Last week, the DNR’s policy board took some action on limiting PFAS in groundwater. It set a limit of 70 parts per trilling for drinking water — something the Campbell town chair was not happy with.