Stillwater has (for good reason) found itself on several noteworthy lists, including “9 Of The Most Quaint Small Towns In Minnesota,” “most picturesque small towns in the country,” and “10 best small town food scenes in the United States.”
Recently, our beautiful city has joined another list that we are less excited to be on: the growing number of east metro communities whose water is contaminated with PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl substances. There are thousands of PFAS chemicals; the ones we are talking about here are called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). They’re not used in the U.S. anymore, but because PFAS break down very slowly over time, and because goods manufactured in other countries may still contain PFOA or PFOS, unfortunately they’re not going away anytime soon.
It’s still unclear how the PFAS got into the water we use here in Stillwater – was it caused by 3M or some other source? Regardless, the city’s leadership is on the hook, together with state and Federal authorities, to manage the issue and ensure the welfare of its residents. Action needs to be considered, but swift.
Let’s recap the timeline according to the city’s website. In April 2023, two of the city’s eight wells – #6 and #10 – were closed, as their PFOA levels exceeded the EPA’s proposed maximum contaminant level. In October 2023, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) sent the city a Health Risk Advisory concerning Well #6.
But you and I didn’t learn any of this until a StarTribune article came out in March 4 of this year.
It’s very easy to ding the city’s leadership in hindsight. I wasn’t privy to the conversations that happened when those test results came in. And if it were me on the city council, I would certainly want to take some time to absorb the information and its implications, confer with city staff and state experts, and determine how to best message this to the public in a way that doesn’t stoke panic and anxiety.
But six months to a year?
The language the MDH used in its October letter was not subtle: “MDH recommends that the city of Stillwater notify its consumers about PFAS in their drinking water supply.”
“What is stunning is the incredible delay in informing the public that its water was contaminated. This goes well beyond careless management or an administrative snafu,” scolded former governor Arne Carlson in his March 20 email to MDH.
Apparently, the city needed until March of this year to have TKDA, a firm that provides “comprehensive solutions for transportation, industrial and manufacturing, and water projects,” develop a communications plan to the tune of $25,000. I sure hope that for that money, TKDA is providing more than the communications plan I see here.
One of the core tenets that guides my run for city council is this: Communication is the key to earning and safeguarding the public’s trust and goodwill.
I haven't always appreciated the power of effective communication. The first semester of my MBA program, back in 2007, all of us were required to take a communications course called “Effective Management, Communication, and Action.” Some of us – the scientist and engineer types in particular – rolled our eyes mightily through the first couple of weeks of lectures and exercises. What a waste of time! We came here to learn about operations management! finance! systems thinking for sustainability! Not this woo-woo stuff.
But upon graduating two years later, and ever since, I can say with hand on heart that that damn course was the best and most life-changing experience of my entire business training. In personal and professional relationships, I can see that things work better when we don’t avoid or delay difficult conversations. When we’re candid and answer questions even if we don’t really want to. When we're transparent. And when we bring people in through dialogue, discovering shared priorities and creating partnership.
Finding out that the water in our beautiful city has been tainted by industrial pollutants really, really sucks. But what may be worse is not knowing whether the situation is in capable hands that can manage the problem.
It may be, but without good communication, how can we tell?
We can all do better: Check out these brief fact sheets.
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