#13 - Water Appropriation Permit

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FINDINGS OF FACT Water Appropriation Permit No. 1961-1031 DATE: 05-01-2021 Permit No.: 1961-1031 Applicant Name: City of Lake Elmo Name of Reviewer: Joe Richter, DNR Region 3 Water Appropriations Hydrologist Recommendation: Based on the information in the administrative record and on file at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Ecological and Water Resources the DNR finds that there is substantial evidence in the record supporting the authorization of the use of Installation No. 5 (Unique Well Number 847064) as a replacement well for Installation No. 1 (unique well number 208448). The DNR also finds that, in accordance with the August 30, 2017 Ramsey County District Court Order in White Bear Lake Restoration Association ex rel State of Minnesota v. Minnesota DNR et. al, (2017 Order)1 and the substantial evidence contained to the administrate record that Lake Elmo’s request to increase the authorized volume of DNR Water Appropriation Permit No. 1961-1031 (Permit No. 1961-1031) from 260 million gallons of water per year to 540 million gallons of water per year should be denied. In support of this recommendation the DNR makes the following: Findings of Fact 1.On July 5, 2020, the City of Lake Elmo constructed a new municipal water supply well Unique Well Number 847064 (Installation No. 5) to serve their public water supply system. The reason for adding Installation No. 5 to the City of Lake Elmo water supply system was to replace Unique Well Number 208448 (Installation No. 1). Water appropriated from Installation No. 1 is appropriated for public water supply in accordance with existing water appropriation permit no. 1961-1031. 2.Installation No. 1 is located within an area where groundwater is polluted by a perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs or PFAS)2 pollution plume that originated with the disposal of PFC/PFAS by the 3M Company. In 2019, the DNR was informed that the water that was drawn from Installation No. 1 contains concentrations of PFC/PFAS that exceeded the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) state health based values for drinking water. Consequently, the City of Lake Elmo could no longer use water from Installation No. 1 for municipal water supply. 3.On January 17, 2020, the DNR issued “Well Construction – Preliminary 1 The 2017 Court Order was affirmed in significant part by the Minnesota Court of Appeals on remand from the Minnesota Supreme Court in White Bear Lake Restoration Assoc. Ex Rel. State v. DNR, 2020 WL 7690268 (Minn. Ct. Ap. 2020). 2 PFCs are also known as perfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. See Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Public Health Data Access: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) available at https://data.web.health.state.mn.us/biomonitoring_pfc#:~:text=PFAS%20are%20common%20chemicals,%2C%20stai ns%2C%20grease%20and%20water (last visited April 21, 2020).