La Crosse County lends moral support to PFAS fight

La Crosse County is supporting other local governments, trying to get help to remedy PFAS pollution in local groundwater. 

Both La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat and county board chair Monica Kruse have asked the DNR to test more wells near the La Crosse Airport, where PFAS were used in firefighting foam. 

Kruse represents an area where the chemicals have been found at high levels.  County administrator Steve O’Malley says the county is not actively involved in the case right now, aside from any actions by the health department.

“It’s not clear that the county has a cause of action,” said O’Malley. “We haven’t made that final determination, but we think by weighing in on our role as the public health department that it may lend credence to…the city and the town being able to get the DNR to intervene.”    

Dozens of wells in the Town of Campbell have been found to contain unusually high levels of PFAS, traced to foam used at the airport.

The city of La Crosse has been providing bottled water to families whose wells have a high amount of PFAS, and has filed a lawsuit against companies that make the chemicals.