Lake Superior College Addressing PFAS Contamination

DULUTH, MINN. — PFAS’ are often called forever chemicals because they don’t break down in the environment or in our bodies. One of the many ways PFAS are used is in the foam that firefighters use to extinguish fires from oil, gas, and jet fuel.

Lake Superior College has had firefighting classes at its Emergency Response Training Center for a number of years. The school has known about PFAS since at least 2009.  At that time and since then, Lake Superior College has been in compliance with the acceptable levels of PFAS.

LSC President Pat Rogers said, ” LSC has always stayed within compliance of whatever the MDH and MPCA have said is necessary. ”

The level of PFAS considered safe has been lowered over the years.  Researchers have linked PFAS to liver problems, thyroid issues, birth defects, kidney disease, and other health problems.  Now the EPA and the state of Minnesota have set a very low level for what amount of PFAS are safe for humans.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recently tested water and soil near the LSC’s training center. No PFAS were found in Duluth’s drinking water or in the water from private wells within a mile of the center. But, the MPCA did find PFAS in some soil.

“They did find that some of our soils are now out of compliance,” said Rogers. ” We are now working in cooperation with the MPCA and with an environmental consultant that we hired and we’re also working with our system office environmental people to address the situation to ensure that we get back into compliance.”

The firefighting program at LSC continues to train firefighters and is working to find a safe alternative to the foam.  The foam is now being used by students just once per semester to limit any further spreading of the PFAS.