CAMPBELL, Wis. – The City of LaCrosse, which operates the regional airport on French Island, has denied free bottled water to people outside of a designated area where ground water has been tested for chemical contamination from the airport. When Joe and Cathy Weitekamp were denied bottled water, they paid $425 for their own test. Their well tested high at 25.4 parts per million for contamination by the “forever chemicals’ that that were the key ingredient in fire-fighting foam used many years at the airport. The state Department of Natural Resources then stepped in and began delivering drinking water to the Weitekamps. The City of La Crosse and the Town of Campbell, on French Island, have been squabbling over how to address the PFAS contamination. Asked about the Weitekamp situation, LaCrosse Mayor Tim Kabat begged off. He said he needed more information from an ongoing study.
Earlier: LaCrosse gearing up against water poisoning
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Affected area
The City of La Crosse is providing 54 French Island household with bottled water. There are approximately 4,300 residents and 1,200 private wells in the Town of Campbell. Wells are used because French Island, between the Mississippi and Black rivers, doesn’t have municipal water system.