CAMPBELL, Wis. – Kwik Trip and Hy-Vee donated six semi-truck loads of bottled water to the Town of Campbell for distribution on Thursday March 25, 2021 in response to PFAS contamination found in 180 private wells. Nearly 100 other residents await test results of their private well water safety.
Volunteers from the Town Board, Administrative and Maintenance Staff, Fire and Police departments, French Island BSA Scout Troops 15 and 515 and Hy-Vee employees from as far away as Kasson, Rochester and the Twin Cities assembled two multi-lane “touchless” drive through sites to provide two cases of water per resident per household after the DNR issued an interim water advisory. Bonsack Trucking provided equipment to streamline the operation.
Although the drive through was advertised to begin at 3PM, Kwik Trip arrived about 1:00 PM and volunteers started loading cases of water into vehicles as early as 1:30 PM. Within an hour five more semi-trucks from Hy-Vee arrived and the pace was set.
More than 50 volunteers tucked the cases of water into truck beds, backseats and trunks of the vehicles driving through. The last vehicles came through just after 6:30 PM. For those who were unable to attend, residents can email waterrequest@townofcampbellwi.gov and volunteers will coordinate water delivery.
Another drive through event will be scheduled in the near future.
The Town thanks our neighbors at Kwik Trip and Hy-Vee for their generous donations. Safe drinking water is a basic human need. The town board and staff will continue collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) and other regional, State and Federal partners to address PFAS contamination as we work toward long term solutions.
Continued testing for PFAS and VOC’s in both the soil and groundwater is imperative to determine the extent of contamination from the AFFF (PFAS foam), and petroleum products including trichlorethylene which was used in the burn pits as part of the La Crosse Airport firefighter training for decades.
Once we know the full extent and scope of the contamination, we can move forward to choose the best plan which ensures our residents have permanent access to safe drinking water.
We are greatly appreciative of the community support to address the PFAS contamination and look forward to working together with our regional partners in productive ways.
Residents who privately tested their wells are encouraged to email their test results to DNRCampbellPFAS@wisconsin.gov or you can drop off a copy at Town Hall to be forwarded on your behalf. Additional Information can be found on the townofcampbell.org website.
###