(Radio Iowa) – The city of Sioux City is issuing a health advisory due to dangerous chemicals called PFAs detected in one of the city’s drinking water plants. It’s one of many communities across Iowa that has to come up with a plan to address the so-called “forever chemicals.” Utilities director Brad Puetz (PITS) says Sioux City will wait to develop a plan once the E-P-A’s final rule on PFAs standards comes out next summer. Puetz says, “We don’t want to be premature in making a decision on how we want to spend money for an emerging contaminant that we just don’t have all the information for yet.”

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources first detected the chemicals at nine-point-one parts per trillion in January. Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency has lowered its threshold for health advisories from 70 parts per trillion to less than point-zero-zero-four parts per trillion. “It’s very difficult for us to say at what level the water would become toxic for the citizens to drink,” he says. “I don’t believe we’re there and we’ll know more once the final rule is published.”

Puetz says Sioux City’s water was likely contaminated by the nearby Iowa Air National Guard Base. The drinking source accounts for less than a fourth of the city’s drinking water. The EPA is expected to give a final ruling of PFAS level standards next summer, and if the city is still under an advisory, officials say they will consider relocating the well to a different water source.

(Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)