An environmental watchdog group is warning that drinking water in La Crosse and other Coulee Region communities is contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of an industrial solvent linked to cancer and other diseases.
Trichlorethylene was found in the La Crosse water system between 2010 and 2015, the last year for which data are available.
Although average levels were well below federal limits, it could still be cause for concern, especially for infants and fetuses, according to a national nonprofit organization.
A chemical found in industrial solvents as well as household products such as spot remover and correction fluid, TCE is one of the most commonly found groundwater contaminants, particularly at former commercial and industrial sites, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Trichlorethylene contamination of an aquifer in Massachusetts was featured in the book and film “A Civil Action.” The EPA legal limit for TCE is 5 parts per billion (ppb) in drinking water, but EWG argues it could be harmful at much lower levels.
Based on newer research, the Minnesota Department of Health in 2013 recommended 0.4 ppb — less than a tenth the federal limit — as a safety guideline, although there are no penalties for water utilities that exceed that lower threshold.
At least one site was above the recommended safe level in 2016 and 2017, according to the city’s annual water reports.
Prairie du Chien’s water supply has been above 0.4 ppb each year and was at 0.69 in 2015.
The highest levels reported in Wisconsin were in West Bend, Cedarburg and Grafton.
Public water in Spring Grove, Minn., exceeded the state health guidelines each year and in 2015 was measured at 4 ppb.