Even as French Island makes progress on safe drinking water, effects of PFAS contamination remain

By Richelle Wilson and Trevor Hook | Wisconsin Public Radio | March 24, 2025

Read the full article by Richelle Wilson and Trevor Hook (Wisconsin Public Radio)

"As the cook of the family, Jim Boisen of French Island used to love making big batches of soup and freezing them to use throughout the year. But when he learned that his homemade soup reserves were filled with tap water containing harmful PFAS chemicals, he felt he had no choice but to throw them out.

“I put a tarp out on the driveway and dumped them all right out. I said, ‘There’s my soup.’ That’s what PFAS did for us,” he told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “I don’t make soup anymore because of that.”

Boisen and his wife, Margie Walker, moved into their home in the town of Campbell on French Island after getting married in 1979. The island sits a few miles north of La Crosse, surrounded by the Mississippi River, Lake Onalaska and Black River. For Boisen, it was a kind of “paradise,” especially when he was able to go out fishing — another hobby he gave up after learning about PFAS in the area more than four years ago."