The city of South Bend is working to eliminate PFAS, known as forever chemicals, from its drinking water as researchers continue learning more about how they harm our bodies.
The city administration next week will ask its Board of Public Works to approve a $1.4 million payment to a Chicago-based firm, Black & Veach. The consultant is helping the city decide which kind of treatment to use to eliminate the PFAS chemicals, and then designing the project.
Matt Bussell is South Bend’s water utilities director. He says two of the city’s four water treatment stations have high PFAS levels, the North Station in Leeper Park and the Pinhook Station. They’re starting with the North Station where construction on the equipment to remove PFAS is estimated to cost $15.5 million.
Bussell says the city will pay for that partly with about $10 million from a class action lawsuit against chemical maker 3M.
The Trump administration has announced it’s giving water systems a two-year extension, from 2029 to 2031, to bring levels below allowable limits.
Bussell says the city probably didn’t need the extension but it will take it.
“I don’t think it’s going to change our pace but it does give us a little breathing room," Bussell says. "It’s a little less stressful.”
