Milwaukie reports PFAS detections in some production wells; city to study treatment options, seek federal funds and join litigation

Peter Pasquale, Milwaukie public works director, told the council the city has detected PFAS chemicals in groundwater at or near some of its production wells and outlined next steps including pilot testing, a feasibility study, federal funding applications and participation in manufacturer settlement claims.

Why it matters: Milwaukie draws its drinking water from groundwater wells. Federal drinking-water limits announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in April 2024 set maximum contaminant levels and trigger compliance monitoring and potential treatment requirements for community water systems; Pasquale said the city’s detection pattern means the community is likely to need treatment to meet those new limits.

What Pasquale told the council: - Regulatory baseline: Pasquale said the EPA announced drinking-water limits in April 2024 for six PFAS compounds. He reported that the agency set the limits for PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion and set limits for several other PFAS compounds at 10 parts per trillion. He said states have up to two years to adopt implementing requirements. - Detections and sources: Pasquale said the city’s compliance and monitoring samples have shown detections in groundwater and that the higher values have come from wells serving the areas around wells 3, 4 and 7. He emphasized the city’s groundwater aquifer is not isolated and that past industrial activities near some wellfields — including precision manufacturing sites and sites historically associated with chrome plating and firefighting foam use — are possible contributors. He did not assert a single, definitive source in the meeting. - Treatment pathway and options: Pasquale reviewed treatment technologies the city is evaluating, including granular activated carbon (GAC), ion-exchange resins, engineered adsorbents and high-pressure membrane systems such as reverse osmosis. He said GAC and membrane systems are “known effective” but that each option raises operational considerations, including residual management and energy use; Pasquale said pilot testing will be performed to evaluate local performance. - System configuration and timing: Staff are studying whether centralizing treatment at a single facility and consolidating operations makes sense for cost and operations, or whether decentralized (site-level) treatment is preferable. Pasquale said the city aims to start construction in calendar 2027 if funding and design proceed on the current schedule, with an estimated construction duration of 18 to 24 months. - Costs and funding: Pasquale said the city submitted a letter of interest for state revolving fund and other federal programs that include funding for emerging contaminant work. He said a feasibility study contract was approved for $125,000 (funded through the federal infrastructure program for emerging contaminants) and that an initial project cost estimate the city submitted for planning purposes was about $22,000,000. He described the state revolving fund as a primary financing path, noting some loans from that source may be forgivable under certain programs. - Legal and settlement activity: Pasquale said the city has filed claims in manufacturer settlement cases (he named Tyco, BASF, DuPont and 3M as parties commonly involved in those settlements) and that those potential recoveries could offset monitoring and treatment costs if successful.

Councilors asked about the scale of the exceedances, the difficulty of reducing concentrations to meet the EPA limits, regulatory timing, and the potential rate and reserve impacts. Pasquale said staff expect treatment will be needed for at least part of the city’s supply, that pilot testing is the next technical step and that staff will continue to pursue federal funding, feasibility work and any recoveries from manufacturer settlements to help limit rate impacts.

Ending: Pasquale said staff will run pilots, complete the feasibility study and return with funding options and recommended treatment approaches; he also said the city will continue monitoring and coordinate with consultants and the city attorney on potential claims.