The West Lafayette Common Council on June 2 adopted an amendment to Chapter 40 of the city code that sets revised local limits for industrial wastewater discharges, adds chloride and fluoride to the list of regulated pollutants and raises surcharge rates for high-strength effluent.

The ordinance, introduced as Ordinance 28-20-25, passed on a roll-call vote of six yeas and no nays after the council approved an amendment to lower the proposed selenium limit. City Utility Director Dave Henderson told the council the limits were developed with input from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and federal guidance, and that the changes are intended to protect the city’s wastewater treatment plant and the Wabash River.

Why this matters: West Lafayette is preparing for possible industrial customers and a large semiconductor project discussed in public comment; residents, scientists and health professionals pressed the council to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and to ensure monitoring and disposal plans before new industrial dischargers begin operations.

Henderson said the city worked “in cooperation with Paul Heggenbotham, the Assistant Commissioner of Water at IDEM,” and used background sampling of the Wabash River and the city’s removal efficiencies to set the limits. He told the council the changes also add two pollutants the utility had not previously regulated locally: chloride and fluoride. Henderson described the ordinance as “step 1” that will inform IDEM when the state issues any industrial wastewater permits.

The ordinance also raises the rates for strength surcharges, Henderson said. He explained that current surcharges date to when former Utility Director Michael Darter set them and that the proposed rates — for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids and ammonia — were brought into line with Lafayette’s program. Under the ordinance language discussed in the meeting, discharges over 250 milligrams per liter for BOD or suspended solids would be surcharged at $0.42 per pound; ammonia over 30 milligrams per liter would be surcharged at $0.42 per pound.

Henderson further said West Lafayette remains a nondelegated community: IDEM will issue industrial permits unless the city pursues delegation. The city’s NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit is up for renewal in 2026 and will be reevaluated as needed, he added.

Public commenters urged more stringent controls and explicit PFAS safeguards. Christopher DeMarco, a resident, asked why chloride lacked a baseline and said, “I think that what's going on here is just everybody's doing everything they can to avoid fines for this plant coming in.” Multiple speakers warned that semiconductor manufacturing can use PFAS compounds and that those chemicals can pass through wastewater treatment and concentrate in biosolids or drinking water.

Purdue researchers and other commenters urged the council to require sensitive testing protocols and more monitoring. Omar Ariel, an associate professor at Purdue, said mass spectrometry sensitivity has increased and that “the thing that you didn't detect 5 years before doesn't mean that they are not there,” urging the city to adopt detection protocols and preserve sensitive sampling methods. Another commenter emphasized that treatment technologies can concentrate PFAS, creating hazardous wastes that require proper off-site disposal.

Henderson said the utility can perform some analyses in-house and will send others to contract laboratories when local equipment is not available, and that the city has baseline testing in place. He also said IDEM will amend permits to include reporting once an industrial customer is permitted, and that the city will conduct sampling and report results to IDEM.

Discussion versus action: Council members debated technical questions, asked about sampling frequency and equipment, and ultimately took formal action to amend and adopt the ordinance. The council recorded a roll-call vote approving the ordinance as amended; the transcript shows the final tally as six yeas and no nays.

What the ordinance does not yet do: The adopted ordinance establishes local numeric limits and surcharge structure and adds chloride and fluoride to locally regulated parameters, but it does not create industry-wide PFAS discharge limits. Several speakers asked whether the city will require PFAS monitoring, how SK hynix (the semiconductor project frequently cited by speakers) will manage PFAS and whether the city will require baseline monitoring and disposal plans; the council’s action did not add PFAS discharge limits or a specific PFAS monitoring requirement in the adopted text.

Next steps and context: Henderson said the city will re-evaluate local limits when it has industrial customers, when new federal or state regulations appear, or at permit renewal. He said NPDES permit renewal work is underway for a 2026 cycle. Residents and scientists urged the council to establish explicit PFAS monitoring, to use sensitive testing methods and to require disposal plans for PFAS-containing waste before accepting major new industrial dischargers.

Ending: The council adopted the revised Chapter 40 wastewater limits and surcharge changes; meanwhile, members of the public and local scientists requested follow-up work and clearer PFAS controls before large industrial dischargers begin operations in the community.