HASTINGS, Minn. — The Hastings City Council won't officially vote on a proposed 10% increase in its water billing rates until a meeting later this month, but plans are already underway on how to use the additional money to address the presence of PFAS in the drinking water.
"Our back is against the wall," said Hastings city planner Dan Wietecha, who spoke to KARE11 outside of the city's central treatment plant. "We actually have a purchase agreement to buy the land right next door, so it is conveniently located."
The urgency comes after the city learned in April that it was among 23 Minnesota water systems with wells that exceed the Environment Protection Agency's new PFAS limits.
Because five of the six wells in Hastings tested above the threshold, Wietecha said three new treatment facilities would be needed in the coming years in order to comply with state regulations.
"It's essentially an unfunded mandate," Wietecha said. "We've got a $70 million project ahead of us and a deadline — basically a four-month cushion — so we can't delay."
Several east metro communities, such as Woodbury, have been upgrading PFAS treatment facilities with help from a settlement from 3M, which produced the forever chemicals for decades.
Hastings only recently learned that one of its wells was tied to that pollution.
"In mid-October we got some good news," Wietecha said. "The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency determined that one of our six wells is eligible for funding through the state's east metro settlement with the 3M companies."
Wietecha said that settlement money should total about $14.5 million, reducing the estimated cost for the treatment facility from $27 million down to about $12.5 million. He said the additional funds also enable the city to reduce the rate hike to 10% in January, followed by another 4-12% increase in July depending on final costs.
"It could still reach 20% this year," he said. "It's still better than the 37% we were looking at."
In the meantime, he said they'll also keep pushing the state of Minnesota and 3M, to look for connections to other wells because with two more treatment centers on the horizon, the bill is only beginning to come due.
"Next year we're probably looking at, at the moment, another 35-40% increase next January, another 35-40% increase that following January, and probably also something in the range of 25-30% in order to work with ongoing maintenance in operation of the facilities afterwards," Wietecha said. "We're still looking at tripling our water rates over the next few years. We'll be among the highest in the metro and statewide."