The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is recommending that a portion of an Andover neighborhood where contaminated well water was discovered last year be connected to the city's municipal water system.
The recommendation outlined in a virtual meeting Thursday comes after the agency found high levels of the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane in private wells in the Red Oaks neighborhood.
Original sampling last summer showed about 40 wells primarily in an area east of NW. Quinn Street and north of 138th Avenue with concentrations of dioxane that exceed the Minnesota Department of Health's values for safe drinking water, including one well testing at 2,200 times the value. Anything above 1 microgram per liter creates health concerns, according to a fact sheet produced by the Health Department.
A recently completed resampling of the wells showed no changes to the original results, the MPCA said.
The chemical 1,4-dioxane was used as a stabilizer for the chlorinated solvent that was often used for industrial purposes. Groundwater contaminated with the chemical is largely caused by the historical use and disposal of chlorinated solvents, the MPCA said.
Long-term exposure can present serious potential health risks. The primary way people are exposed is by drinking contaminated drinking water, the agency said.
"Connecting impacted residents to Andover's municipal drinking water system will eliminate the pathway to exposure and ensure a suitable long-term drinking water source," the agency said.
Gov. Tim Walz has asked that $12 million be included in a bonding bill to bring city water to homes in the affected area and seal impacted wells. There would be no cost to homeowners to hook into the city water system under the plan.