Six households in this St. Paul suburb are receiving bottled water after health officials detected chemicals once used by 3M Co. in the homes’ private wells.
The Minnesota Department of Health issued drinking water advisories to the homeowners after finding perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), formerly used in nonstick cookware and other products, at levels slightly above health guidelines.
The chemical had previously been detected in community wells in Oakdale and dozens of private wells in Lake Elmo. A different 3M chemical, perfluorobutanoic acid, or PFBA, has turned up in a wider area of the east Twin Cities metropolitan area that includes public wells serving Cottage Grove, Woodbury and four other communities.
The tests are part of an ongoing sampling of wells in south Washington County to determine the extent of ground water contamination, health officials said.
