A new bill would help spur the development of a lined landfill in northeast Minnesota that proponents say would be able to treat “forever chemicals.” Rep. Dave Lislegard, DFL-Aurora, introduced a bill that would direct $4.5 million to St. Louis County for a facility to treat per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Studies have shown the chemicals accumulate in the environment and the human body and are toxic.
After a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency official talked about the agency’s monitoring program during a House committee hearing, Lislegard expressed frustration with regulators’ tendency to study things forever. “I’ve been watching permits and everything be study, study, study. I don’t want to study it to death,” he said. “Sometimes you just gotta move.”
The MPCA approved the county’s pilot study for the proposed treatment system last spring. His bill (HF1152) would help pay for St. Louis County to design and construct a facility with an “engineered manufactured wetland” to reduce PFAS chemicals. The money would come from the sale of bonds and the bill would be effective immediately after enactment.
To read the full story, visit https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/bill-would-help-build-waste-facility-to-treat-pfas-in-northeast-minnesota/.
Author: Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer
Image: Chad Davis, Minnesota Reformer