Minnesota county pushes EPA for help over PFAS-laden leachate entering Lake Superior

By E.A. Crunden | Waste Dive | May 27, 2020

Read the full article by E.A. Crunden (Waste Dive)

“Dive Brief:

The discharge of leachate containing toxic chemicals into Lake Superior is under fire from a group of Minnesota county commissioners. Four out of seven St. Louis County commissioners signed on to a May 12 letter sent to the U.S. EPA and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) requesting ‘immediate action.’
The letter states the city of Duluth — through the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) — is discharging 5 million gallons of MSW leachate into Lake Superior. Surface water discharge shows per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), along with mercury, arsenic, lead, cyanide, and others. WLSSD has said it uses physical, chemical, and biological treatments to remove around 95% of contaminants, diluting the leachate prior to disposal.

WLSSD did not respond to a request for comment, but Executive Director Marianne Bohren told the Duluth News Tribune she felt blindsided by the letter, while confirming the 5 million gallon figure and acknowledging the entity does not test for PFAS. Commissioner Keith Nelson, one of the letter’s signatories and chair of the county’s solid waste commission, told Waste Dive he and other officials have been in communication with WLSSD for years about such issues, with little movement.

Dive Insight:

The issue marks another instance where concern over PFAS associated with landfills could spark some level of involvement from federal agencies. PFAS contamination is among the most controversial emerging topics facing the waste industry, with direct implications for disposal facilities and wastewater treatment plants.

WLSSD takes in leachate hauled or piped in from landfills — both capped and active — across Northeastern Minnesota. Per the May 12 letter, the WLSSD discharge site is 10.5 miles upstream from the Lakewood pump house, which supplies Duluth’s drinking water.

WLSSD discharges around 13.9 billion gallons of leachate on an annual basis. According to the letter, the leachate is then diluted by wastewater taken from Duluth’s sewer and storm sewer systems, a process WLSSD has said is in keeping with EPA and Minnesota standards.

But Nelson countered WLSSD, highlighting PFAS as a specific source of concern among worries about the wider array of potential toxins in leachate. He referenced ongoing studies and coverage about PFAS, which have been linked by researchers to cancer and other illnesses.

‘When something is showing up in the bloodstreams of children, it’s time to do things about that,’ Nelson said…”

This content provided by the PFAS Project.