Officials briefed on possible PFAS litigation; staff to return with options and cost details

County staff briefed Dodge County’s executive committee on recent outreach from outside counsel about potential PFAS litigation tied to land contamination and recommended the committee consider whether to pursue testing or participation.

Staff said a Texas law firm has solicited counties and cities seeking plaintiffs for multidistrict litigation related to PFAS that may have contaminated soil near airports and landfills. The staff presenter said firms would offer to test soils near county airports and other sites and, if contamination were found, the county could be eligible to join as a plaintiff; staff compared the potential process to earlier opioid litigation in structure but said the effort is in early stages.

Committee members raised cost and scope questions: one supervisor noted the state conducts some well testing but that soil testing averages about $500 per sample and can be prohibitively expensive if done at scale. Several supervisors asked whether existing county monitoring included PFAS; staff said routine well testing currently performed by the county does not include PFAS because of expense and that the DNR’s testing program is selective and probabilistic.

Staff said no local contamination is known but offered to research further, prepare a memo and, if the committee wishes, put the item on the February agenda for possible action including a resolution authorizing testing or pursuing litigation. The committee did not take formal action at the meeting.

The presenter encouraged supervisors to consider potential sites of concern — the airport and the landfill were mentioned repeatedly — and noted the firm conducting outreach had achieved significant settlements in water‑contamination cases elsewhere. Several supervisors requested additional information on the firms involved and the likely county costs before deciding on next steps.