After years of planning, lobbying, public meetings and growing concern over rising water bills, Hastings officials received a major victory at the Capitol Sunday night when the Minnesota Legislature approved $17.5 million to help build the city’s Eastern Water Treatment Plant.
The funding was included in the state bonding bill passed during the final hours of the 2026 legislative session. The legislation, approved as part of House Files HF 719 and HF 2484, now heads to Gov. Tim Walz for his signature.
For Hastings leaders, the funding represents one of the most significant milestones yet in the city’s ongoing effort to remove PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” from the municipal water system.
In a statement released shortly after the vote, the city said the bonding bill would invest $1.24 billion in infrastructure projects statewide, including money for Hastings’ eastern treatment facility and a connection to the Minnesota Veterans Home.
The city thanked Sen. Judy Seeberger, Rep. Tom Dippel, members of the House and Senate Capital Investment Committees, Mayor Mary Fasbender, City Administrator Dan Wietecha, Public Works Director Ryan Stempski and local residents for helping push the project forward.
The announcement capped off months of advocacy work by city officials who repeatedly traveled to St. Paul seeking financial help for what has become one of the largest infrastructure challenges in Hastings history.
Just weeks earlier, on April 24, city leaders met with legislators and committee chairs at the Capitol to discuss the city’s bonding proposal and the growing cost burden facing residents.
“The city continues to pursue funding to build three water treatment plants to remove PFAS and nitrates from city drinking water,” the city said in an earlier public update.
At the time, officials warned that even with outside assistance, residents could still face substantial water rate increases in coming years.
“To date, the city has secured $23.3 million in outside funding for the three water treatment plants, which are expected to cost $70.3 million to build,” the city stated. “Even with the current funding, water rates are expected to continue to increase.”
The newly approved $17.5 million allocation significantly reduces that gap, though city officials have repeatedly said additional funding will still be necessary as work continues on all three planned treatment facilities.
The PFAS issue in Hastings has developed over several years as federal and state regulators tightened standards surrounding the chemicals, which have been linked to health concerns including certain cancers, thyroid disease and developmental issues.
PFAS, short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals used for decades in products such as firefighting foam, nonstick cookware, stain resistant fabrics and industrial manufacturing. Because the chemicals break down very slowly, they have become known as “forever chemicals.”
In April 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established new PFAS drinking water limits at 4 parts per trillion for some compounds, dramatically increasing pressure on communities across Minnesota to upgrade water systems.
Hastings quickly found itself facing one of the metro area’s largest treatment challenges.
Five of the city’s six municipal wells exceed the new federal standards, according to public presentations and reports shared by city officials over the past two years.
The city’s solution involves constructing three separate treatment plants, identified as the Central, Eastern and Western Water Treatment Plants, to remove PFAS contamination and, in some cases, nitrates from the water supply.
The scale and cost of the project immediately became a major concern.
Throughout 2024 and 2025, city officials regularly updated residents during council meetings, warning that water rates would likely increase sharply without significant outside funding.
In October 2024, Hastings approved a 10 percent water rate increase, with additional increases expected later. By 2025, officials were discussing phased increases of 10 percent at multiple points over two years while continuing to pursue state and federal aid.
City leaders also began seeking help from Minnesota’s share of the 3M settlement fund.
For years, Hastings was not considered eligible for major portions of the settlement because the contamination affecting its wells had not been directly tied to 3M pollution sources. That changed in late 2024, when state officials determined contamination in Well No. 5 could be connected to PFAS produced at 3M’s Cottage Grove facility.
That decision unlocked millions of dollars in settlement funding for the city.
The city eventually secured more than $23 million in grants, settlement dollars and low interest loans tied to the first phase of the project, including construction of the Central Water Treatment Plant.
Construction on the Central Plant began in late 2025 near North Frontage Road after bids came in lower than expected.
Even with those developments, Hastings officials continued warning that residents could still face dramatic utility increases without legislative action.
In interviews and public presentations, Wietecha frequently described the situation as financially overwhelming for a community the size of Hastings.
“It’s a budget buster, and really tough on our residents and businesses,” Wietecha told the Star Tribune late last year while discussing the city’s efforts to secure additional aid.
That financial pressure became a central talking point during the 2026 legislative session as lawmakers across Minnesota debated how to help communities facing mounting PFAS cleanup costs.
Bonding requests related to PFAS treatment projects statewide totaled nearly $89 million this session, according to legislative committee discussions.
Hastings’ request became one of the more visible proposals at the Capitol, in part because of the city’s aggressive public outreach campaign and repeated appearances before legislative committees.
Throughout the past year, local lawmakers Seeberger and Dippel became vocal advocates for Hastings’ request.
The city repeatedly encouraged residents and business owners to contact legislators in support of the proposal, saying state assistance was necessary to ease the burden on local ratepayers.
The Eastern Water Treatment Plant project, which received the newly approved funding, also includes a connection to the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings, adding another layer of statewide importance to the project.
Meanwhile, work continues on the broader PFAS treatment strategy.
The city has continued pursuing additional funding for the Western Water Treatment Plant while also applying for federal grants and Public Facilities Authority loans.
Officials have said the overall strategy remains focused on keeping water safe while minimizing the financial impact on residents as much as possible.
Public Works Director Ryan Stempski has repeatedly emphasized that the city’s water remains safe to drink under current guidelines while treatment projects move forward.
Still, the urgency surrounding the issue increased significantly after federal regulations tightened and state guidance evolved over the past several years.
The city also has spent considerable time educating residents about PFAS contamination, holding public meetings, creating online information portals and issuing regular updates about treatment plans, costs and timelines.
Those efforts helped build public support for the funding request and highlighted the complexity of the problem facing not only Hastings, but communities across Minnesota.
The bonding bill’s approval now gives Hastings officials a major piece of the funding puzzle they have been pursuing for years.
For city leaders, residents and lawmakers involved in the effort, Sunday night’s vote represented both relief and validation after months of uncertainty surrounding the legislative session.
The final outcome arrived during the Legislature’s traditional late session rush, when negotiations over capital investment projects continued until shortly before adjournment.
For Hastings, the result means one of the city’s largest infrastructure projects in decades can move forward with significantly more financial support from the state.
Even with additional work ahead, city officials say the approval marks an important turning point in the long effort to modernize Hastings’ water system and address a contamination issue that has reshaped local infrastructure planning, budgeting and public policy discussions for years.