Hunter
03/07/22
A mobile home park near Muscatine has the dubious distinction of having the highest concentration of “forever chemicals” in the drinking water ever detected by a state survey.
Iowa Capital Dispatch reports that the water of Kammerer Mobile Home Park, which is just south of Muscatine in a low-lying area near the Mississippi River, is contaminated with trace amounts of substances commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.”
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources tests of dozens of community drinking water supplies across the state. They have found PFAS in 10 of those water sources.
The water at the mobile home park had a combined concentration of forever chemicals of 29 parts per trillion. The current federal safety threshold is 70 parts per trillion, but it exceeds the safety levels established by several states. The federal standard is currently under review and is expected to be revised downward.
Roger Bruner is the supervisor of the DNR’s water quality bureau conducting the statewide survey. He says if the concentration exceeded the federal limit, they would require Kmmerer’s owners to notify their customers.
The mobile home park draws its water from a well that Iowa Capitol Dispatch says is highly susceptible to surface contamination because of the porous sediment in the area. There are a number of industrial sites nearby and an airport. Firefighting foams that contain PFAS, which have been used at airports, have been prime sources of contamination in other areas of the state.
Bruner said more drinking water systems will be tested this year.