Former Marinette alderman Doug Oitzinger stands over a ditch where water samples found PFAS levels hundreds of times higher than drinking water and surface water standards prior to treatment. (Danielle Kaeding/Wisconsin Public Radio, file)

Marinette and Peshtigo-area residents told regulators Monday that they want the state to use a recent $10 million settlement over PFAS contamination to fund a health study and safe water for community members.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources had a listening session on how to spend funds from a settlement with Tyco Fire Products that was announced earlier this month. Residents in the northeastern Wisconsin communities have long been struggling with PFAS contamination of private wells that stems from Tyco’s fire training facility in Marinette.

Under the settlement, Tyco must invest $10 million into the state’s PFAS trust fund to help clean up the chemicals and provide clean water for residents with contaminated wells, including newer deep wells, for the next 20 years.

But Marinette resident Doug Oitzinger, who is president of the nonprofit group Save Our Water, noted the settlement doesn’t require the company to provide safe water in an expanded area around Tyco’s facility.

“Those people in the expanded site investigation area need to have a process to get new wells if they want one,” Oitzinger said.

State environmental regulators said around 70 wells in the expanded area have PFAS concentrations above the state’s health advisory levels. DNR officials estimated it may cost $40,000 to $70,000 to install deep wells into a sandstone aquifer where the chemicals haven’t been detected.

“Even at the high end, at 70 properties, you’re talking approximately $5 million to give everybody a deep well,” Peshtigo resident Jeff Lamont said.

Some residents voiced frustration with the settlement, saying it provided limited funds and didn’t go far enough to address needs. Christine Sieger, the DNR’s director of remediation and redevelopment, acknowledged people’s anger.

“We’re going to do the best we can,” Sieger said. “We’re going to make the money go as far as we can.”

Sieger assured residents that the agency would continue to provide water during the interim to people living with contaminated wells in that area. The DNR plans to request funding from the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance based on community input.

Residents at the listening session said they would also like to see a health study to examine PFAS levels in the blood of residents living with contaminated wells, including town of Peshtigo resident Cindy Boyle.

She said a study would help her and others understand whether they are more predisposed to various illnesses that have been linked to PFAS contamination, including kidney and testicular cancers.

“I want to be aware of it, so that I can do early detection — and blood work is what gives you that — so that I can be as proactive as possible, so I don’t get the diagnosis at Stage Four,” Boyle said.

Nathan Kloczko, a health assessor with the Department of Health Services, said the agency will explore what’s possible. Kloczko said cancer rates have been examined in Marinette County, and he’s unaware of any significant elevated risk.

He added that there may not be enough residents in areas more affected by PFAS contamination to make a meaningful comparison of whether they face higher risk than the general population.

“You can’t therefore infer anything beyond that anecdotal evidence,” Kloczko said. “That’s one of the more frustrating things.”

Residents also requested more updates about levels of PFAS contamination in fish and wildlife, the bay of Green Bay and uptake of the chemicals in plants. They also asked about the status of listing the area as a Superfund site and designating a point person at the DNR to address concerns among residents.

Tyco has said it’s invested more than $100 million to provide drinking water for residents, including deep wells. As of March, the company had treated more than 450 million gallons through its groundwater extraction system since 2022 and removed 45 pounds of PFAS. The DNR said that represents the “tip of the iceberg.”

The DNR plans to have another listening session from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. July 13 at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to report on the results of community input for the use of settlement funds.