State wants Superfund designation to deal with drinking water contamination

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is proposing that the municipal wells in the Lake Minnetonka town of Spring Park be added to the state's Superfund List.

MPCA officials also want to add a former dry cleaning business in downtown Worthington to the list of polluted sites. Doing so will give the MPCA access to state funds designated to investigate and clean up such sites.

"They're both places where chlorinated solvents are involved in the contamination," MPCA spokesman Sam Brungardt said.

Samples from Spring Park's municipal water supply system found elevated levels of an industrial solvent. The concentrations found were below federal maximum standards for water, but above Minnesota's health standard.

Brungardt said the MPCA would like to investigate the source of the chemical as well as take the chemical out of municipal drinking water.

He said the kinds of chlorination chemicals found in both sites can damage the immune system and developing fetuses, and may pose risks from long-term exposure.