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PFAS and Other Contaminants in Groundwater in Dakota County, MN

Presented by Vanessa Demuth, Environmental Specialist with Dakota County Environmental Management Department

Presentation Overview

Dakota County, Minnesota has over 8,000 households dependent on groundwater from private drinking water wells. In 1989, the MN Department of Health delegated the authority to permit and inspect all, irrigation, environmental, and private water well constructions and sealings to the County. The Well Program staff have implemented a variety of innovative programs since its inception to include required well testing for coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, and manganese at the time of property transaction, and updating the County’s ordinance to prevent the exportation of groundwater. A county-wide well inventory is in progress and well owners are offered a 50 percent cost-share grant to seal unused wells. The Community Focused Sampling Program was developed in 2019 to provide every private well owner with a free water test every five years In 2023, a report summarizing the PFAS results from wells that examined the relationship between results and distance to known sites where biosolids from water treatment plants have been applied was published in 2023. In 2025, soil samples for PFAS have been collected from fields with a history of biosolids and reference sites. Six private wells were sampled for microplastics. State grant funding was obtained in 2024 to implement two water treatment grant programs to address anthropogenic and geogenic constituents.

Biography

Vanessa Demuth, Vanessa has been a groundwater professional with Dakota County’s Environmental Resources Department since 1993 where she is a Certified Water Well Inspector for Dakota County’s Delegated Well Program. She is both a Registered Environmental Health Sanitarian and a Minnesota Licensed Professional Geologist. She has contributed to both the manganese and chloride related Minnesota Ground Water Association white papers. In 1999, she was tasked with the 20-year study of Dakota County’s ambient groundwater quality which was published to the County’s website in 2020. Vanessa is active in her community as a former city council member, current member of the Utility Commission and started the city’s Environment and Sustainability Commission. She is a two-time, former Vice President, of the AIPG MN Chapter.