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But $14 million is far from enough to pay for a trio of treatment plants with <br />a projected $68.9 million price tag, forcing the city to develop an aggressive <br />plan for water rate increases to make up the rest. <br />Now, other communities are contending with a similar challenge: <br />scrambling to find the funds to clean up a problem that 3M caused. <br />“I’m sure that much of the east metro is concerned about what this means <br />for their projects and potentially needing to raise rates themselves,” said <br />Hastings City Administrator Dan Wietecha of the news that 3M is <br />contesting certain funding obligations outlined in the 2007 consent order. <br />Hastings officials, meanwhile, have also taken issue with another PFAS- <br />related development: the DNR and MPCA are devoting a chunk of 3M <br />settlement money to projects that restore aquatic resources and wildlife <br />that forever chemicals have marred. <br />Wietecha questioned those agencies’ priorities. <br />“If you know you’re going to run out of money, why are you stubbornly <br />using this discretionary piece — access to $20 million for fishing piers and <br />boat ramps and aquatic habitat — rather than focusing it on drinking <br />water?” he said. <br />“We just think it’s irresponsible,” he added. “Just because you have access <br />to these funds doesn’t mean you need to spend them in that fashion.” <br />But Randall Doneen, a conservation assistance manager with the DNR, said <br />that funding environmental projects is a worthy goal. <br />Wetland restoration efforts, shoreline enhancements, even campaigns <br />informing people not to consume fish from PFAS-contaminated lakes — all <br />of these endeavors, within specific portions of Washington, Ramsey and <br />Dakota counties, are eligible for 3M funds.