Hastings representatives seek PFAS water treatment plant funding

By Graham P. Johnson
Posted 1/31/25

Despite the drama in the state legislature, a key issue for the state legislators representing Hastings continues to be securing funds to build water treatment plants. Both Sen. Judy Seeberger …

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Hastings representatives seek PFAS water treatment plant funding

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Despite the drama in the state legislature, a key issue for the state legislators representing Hastings continues to be securing funds to build water treatment plants. Both Sen. Judy Seeberger (D-Afton) and Rep. Tom Dippel (R-Cottage Grove) have introduced various bills that would do just that.
On Wednesday, Jan. 22, Sen. Seeberger held a press conference announcing that she had submitted her first bills of the two-year legislative cycle which would provide $16.6 million for the city of Hastings to construct water treatment plants (WTP). The bills, SF 549 and SF 550, appropriate funds to “predesign, design, construct, and equip three water treatment plants and associated water mains to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from city wells,” according to the bills.
The bills, which would both provide $16.6 million, differ in that SF 550 would allocate funds into a future bonding bill, while SF 549 would simply appropriate cash from the general fund to the city of Hastings. These bills are what Seeberger called a “dual track process,” where if a bonding bill does not come together during the legislative session, an allocation of cash would still potentially be available.
“I support any and all solutions to get Hastings clean water, and the cost absolutely should not be borne by the Hastings residents. This was a situation the city did not create, and it is not fair to expect the city to bear the costs to fix the problem,” said Sen. Seeberger.
Sen. Seeberger openly admits that the $16.6 million figure is far from the total cost of constructing the three WTPs needed to bring Hastings’ water up to federal PFAS standards. The total cost is estimated to be $68.9 million.
“There simply isn’t anything in the budget this session to fund something that large. We have to take it in phases,” she said.
Sen. Seeberger decried the last-minute collapse of the bonding bill last session in which money had been appropriated for Hastings WTPs. She cited the bonding bill’s failure as the direct cause of the 10% raise in water rates that began Jan. 1, 2025: “The increase that we saw was a direct response to the failure to pass a bonding bill last session,” said Seeberger. She spoke to the possibility of an early bonding bill this session which would potentially avert further water rate increases associated with the central WTP.
“Water that isn’t contaminated with forever chemicals is a moral imperative for every corner of Minnesota, and the cost is coming for every district, but especially those in the East Metro.”
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Dippel introduced three bills to provide funds for Hastings WTPs. These are detailed in a Jan. 24 press release:
“In order to help prevent any further financial punishment of Hastings residents and business owners, I am authoring three separate bills that would utilize state funding to cover the costs. The first two would allocate $16.6 million in either general fund or capital investment proceeds to help pay for the first water treatment plant and associated water lines. The last proposal would seek $45.7 million from the 3M trust fund to help pay for the three treatment facilities. “
In Dippel’s third bill, the funds would be coming from the 3M settlement fund rather than state funds via a future bonding bill. 3M dumping in Washington County has already been linked to Well 5 in Hastings and thus will be partially funding the central WTP. Despite that only partial connection, it has long been the stance of the city of Hastings that the PFAS contamination of city water is directly due to 3M dumping sites in Washington County and that 3M settlement funds should be used for Hastings WTPs.
Concerns over spreading those 3M settlement funds too far, however, have been raised as inflation has increased the cost of the various projects of Washington County communities. It was an issue raised by Seeberger.
“While Hastings and every other community up and down my district would love to have this 3M settlement pot of money fund their PFAS needs, it’s a limited and finite amount of money and it’s not going to go that far,” she said.
In the 3M Settlement annual report and spending plan for fiscal year 2024, which was released in October 2024, the total expenditures for priority 1 projects totaled $67,599,782 leaving the settlement fund balance at $629,320,466 as of June 30, 2024. The original grant for priority 1 projects was $700,000,000.