PFAS Summit in Wausau
Wisconsin's Green Fire, June 11, 2025
PFAS Summit in Wausau
Group photo from PFAS Summit in Wausau, June 5, 2025
On June 4-5, 2025, Wisconsin’s Green Fire participated in the first in-person summit of the statewide PFAS coalition. As you may know, PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These “forever chemicals” are common in many household and industrial products but are known to contaminate drinking water in some areas of Wisconsin. This coalition of groups working on PFAS typically meets virtually each week. It includes many conservation organizations including WGF, advocacy groups, faith groups, and others from around Wisconsin. The representatives from WGF at the summit were John Robinson, Chair of our Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) Work Group, and Paul Heinen, WGF’s Policy Director.
Attendees came from Marinette to LaCrosse, Peshtigo to Stella, and many other cities, towns and villages. We convened at Rib Mountain State Park to share experiences and stories of the work to clean up PFAS in their communities. Some are local officials, some are heads of local citizens groups and other are moms and dads with kids who need clean water to drink.
Many of the attendees have been working for seven or more years to get the needed funding for their hometown’s cleanups. In the meantime, they are drinking bottled water and teaching their children to avoid the taps in their homes. They have been working with a cadre of lobbyists, including Paul Heinen, to convince the Legislature to write protective standards covering this forever pollutant and have come to Madison numerous times to tell their story and lobby their representatives.
Wisconsin’s Green Fire’s CEC Work Group has been supplying the statewide group with the science, regulatory and policy information needed to address the PFAS problem. We will continue to work together until we solve the problem of PFAS in Wisconsin for all people living, working and visiting Wisconsin.
Past WGF Publications on PFAS:
- New Opportunities Now Paper: PFAS 2.0
- 2023 PFAS Conference
- PFAS: Forever Chemicals in Wisconsin Webinar Recording
- PFAS: Forever Chemicals in Wisconsin — Wisconsin’s Green Fire Opportunities Now 2021-2023 Report on PFAS
Learn more about the Contaminants of Emerging Concern Work Group here.
If our work on PFAS, clean water, or other topics mentioned here inspired or informed you, please consider supporting our work with a donation to Wisconsin’s Green Fire. An annual gift of any amount makes you a member. Thank you!