One year ago, residents of French Island learned they were drinking water contaminated with high levels of PFAS, a man-made chemical that is harmful to human beings.

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The Biden administration has released a plan to accelerate the removal of lead water pipes and lead paint from U.S. homes. As a geochemist and environmental health researcher who has studied the heartbreaking effects of lead poisoning in children for decades, I am happy to see a lot of attention being paid to this silent killer, which disproportionately affects poor communities of color.

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Erland Suppah Jr. doesn't trust what comes out of his faucet. Each week, Suppah and his girlfriend haul a half-dozen large jugs of water from a distribution center run by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to their apartment for everything from drinking to cooking to brushing their teeth for their family of five. It's the only way they feel safe after countless boil-water notices and weekslong shutoffs on a reservation struggling with bursting pipes, failing pressure valves and a geriatric water treatment plant.

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Nearly 800 residents of French Island plan to sue the city of La Crosse stemming from contamination of private drinking water wells from chemicals known as PFAS, a move that could expose the city to up to more than $39 million in claims.

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Researchers have completed the fourth and final round of private well sampling to determine sources of fecal contamination in wells that were previously flagged for issues as part of an ongoing groundwater study in southwestern Wisconsin. The findings released Wednesday found 76% of all wells sampled during those rounds had fecal contamination from humans or livestock.

Tagged with: drinking water Gov. Tony Evers Robin Vos Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

The cities of New Berlin and Waukesha approved a deal on Tuesday to resolve a standoff over a pumping station that threatened to delay Waukesha's plan to build a pipeline to supply it with Lake Michigan water.

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The board of the state Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday authorized the department to start drafting new water quality standards for a range of pollutants, including PFAS.

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A committee on Wednesday voted to advance a bill that would compel Wisconsin child care centers to root out lead-tainted water infrastructure.

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A bipartisan water pollution task force proposed more than a dozen bills Wednesday designed to curb contamination across Wisconsin, capping a year's worth of research and discussion.

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In recent years, the safety of our drinking water has come to the forefront of Wisconsin politics.

Tagged with: drinking water Gov. Scott Walker Gov. Tony Evers Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources