Minnesota puts a cost estimate on getting toxic PFAS out of wastewater: At least $14 billion

Jun 07, 20230

Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune file count

The St. Cloud Wastewater Treatment Plant seen in 2018. A new state report estimates that removing PFAS from wastewater and landfill leachate could cost between $14 billion and $28 billion.

Destroying "forever chemicals" in wastewater from sewage treatment and landfills in Minnesota could cost at least $14 billion, and potentially up to $28 billion, over two decades, according to a first-ever estimate released Tuesday.

The study evaluates the cost of different technologies that could remove the chemicals, known as PFAS, which currently escape into the state's waterways and onto land treated with sewage sludge because existing treatment methods don't filter them out.

The report was prepared by consultants Barr Engineering and Hazen and Sawyer for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

https://www.startribune.com/removing-pfas-sewage-landfill-wastewater-cost-billion-minnesota-mpca-pollution-cleanup-destruction/600280648/