The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is out with a report attempting to capture the full cost to remove PFAS from the state’s wastewater streams;
The estimate is between $14B and $28B over 20 years;
The independent study by MPCA is part of the state’s PFAS Blueprint, which is its plan to prevent, manage and clean up PFAS pollution;
The cost is based on required upgrades to the state’s existing water infrastructure;
Other highlights of the report:
Estimates PFAS can be bought for $50-$1,000 per lb. but cost $2.7M to $18M per lb. to remove & destroy from municipal wastewater, depending on facility size
Smaller water treatment facilities face costs more than 6 times greater than large facilities due to economies of scale
Newer “short chain” types of PFAS cost up to 70 percent more to remove versus old “long-chain”
12 PFAS removal and destruction technologies have been selected for statewide cost development
The report serves as further evidence that through no fault of their own, wastewater treatment facilities receive PFAS from a variety of sources and they cannot carry the financial burden of cleaning up the pollution.