Woodbury Water Report: Contaminants At Safe Levels

WOODBURY, MN — As required by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the city of Woodbury is issuing the results of monitoring done on its drinking water for the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2016. The purpose of the report is to advance consumers’ understanding of drinking water and heighten awareness of the need to protect precious water resources.

The city of Woodbury reported that "no contaminants were detected at levels that violated state and federal drinking water standards."

However, the city also stated that due to technology improvements and enhanced lab methods, additional perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are now being detected at trace levels in Woodbury wells. This does not mean that any particular PFC concentration is increasing, only that the lab is now able to detect PFCs at levels so low they previously could not be measured, according to the city.

What are PFCs?

PFCs were made by 3M in Cottage Grove and by other companies around the world for use in household and industrial products. PFC wastes were disposed of in several landfills in Washington County.

City officials pushed for an aggressive cleanup of the former 3M disposal site near Woodbury’s border with Cottage Grove, the Oakdale 3M disposal site, the former Washington County landfill, and the Cottage Grove 3M site – all shown to be sources of the groundwater contamination.

Cleanup activity at all four sites was completed in 2011. A groundwater extraction system also remains operational at the site near Woodbury's southern border to capture and prevent off site migration of PFCs. Ongoing oversight of the four sites continues under the direction of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

The document contains the city's annual water quality report, which includes information on the monitoring done on Woodbury drinking water in 2016:

• Chemicals In Woodbury's Water: MDH Issues New Guidance

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