Open house will highlight Woodbury’s solution to PFAS contamination: $400 million water treatment plant

Woodbury will host an open house May 22 at City Hall to help the public understand what’s happening with the city’s largest-ever construction project: the new $400 million water treatment plant, to be connected to 17 miles of pipeline. The plant will provide a permanent solution to the PFAS contamination that has meant the closure of some city wells and the construction of temporary treatment for others.

The city expects to pay between $32 million and $40 million of the plant’s construction costs; the remainder will be covered by 3M, which reached a $850 million settlement with the state of Minnesota in 2018 for the contamination of groundwater under the east metro.

The plant will be built south of Hargis Parkway and east of Radio Drive. It isn’t expected to come online until 2028. The plant will require new pipelines to connect to all of the city’s wells. Installation of those pipelines will take place over the next four years along existing roadway corridors. A map of those locations will be available at the open house. The city also maintains a website with project information.

This won’t be the first treatment plant built specifically because of PFAS. The city built a temporary treatment plant in 2020, and then expanded it in 2022, to treat six of the city’s 20 wells. It will be in operation until the permanent plant is up and running.

The open house will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 8301 Valley Creek Rd. Woodbury residents not able to attend the open house can also call the project information line at 651-448-7127 or email watertreatment@woodburymn.gov for more information.