Legalectric

Delmarva Power has been hosting meetings about its proposed Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway.   The next meeting is:

Wednesday, February 4 @ 6 p.m.

Millsboro Civic Center

322 Wilson Highway

This is an electrical superhighway through Delaware, the map makes that much clear.

What’s interesting is that Rep. Tom Carper seems to be taking an enlightened and informed position on this:

Carper said the question of the power line needs to be considered in a larger context. He harkened back to the construction of Del. 1 to handle an increase in north-south travel, noting that along with the new road came a look at expanding public transit, car-pooling, and other alternatives to driving.

“Upgrading power lines on the Delmarva Peninsula may be necessary, but I hope Delawareans will take this opportunity to look not only at where a power line might go, but also at how they could help reduce the need for a new line in the first place,” Carper said.

Today, there’s a long piece in the News Journal about it, with the above quote from Carper:

Power-line plan stirs environment fears

Bluewater Wind hails pathway for clean energy

By AARON NATHANS
The News Journal

Environmentalists are divided over the merits of a Pepco Holdings plan to string a 500-kilovolt power line through the heart of Delaware to better connect southern power plants with growing demand in the mid-Atlantic region.

Pepco’s proposed Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway would be like an interstate highway of electricity, designed to make more space on the often-choked power grid for electricity to flow to growing population centers on the East Coast.

Clean-air advocates say it could help carry clean wind power to the homes and businesses that need it, even as they worry it will also import dirty coal-fired power from the South and Midwest.

Wildlife and property-rights advocates are afraid the line will be a blight on the landscape, running through fragile areas along the Delaware River and Bay.

The most controversy in Delaware about the power line, which is now being examined by the public in a series of public hearings, is likely to focus on an eight-mile stretch of land in southern New Castle County.

The utility would need to acquire an easement through an area near the Delaware River that includes many wetlands and state-designated critical natural areas.

Officials at Pepco Holdings, the parent company of Delmarva Power, said the specific path there has not yet been chosen.

The planned power line would start in Dumfries, Va., cut through Maryland and across the Chesapeake Bay, then run through southern Delaware to the Indian River Power Plant. The line then would continue up the length of the state and across the Delaware River, ending in Salem, N.J.

It’s one of several large lines planned in this region to shore up electrical reliability. Utility officials say it’s especially needed on the Delmarva Peninsula, where power lines currently run only from the north. This would add a second path from the west.

Although power demand is down because of the recession, utility representatives say that won’t last, and demand will one day overtax the existing grid.

By connecting three regional nuclear power plants, the new high-capacity line will spread power along the coast as well as bring in power from the coal-rich Midwest.

The $1.425 billion line is expected to add 40 cents to the average residential monthly electric bill. The costs would be borne by all electric users in the 13-state PJM Interconnection regional power grid.

The immediate need for the line is to move current through Delaware, but it also could be a useful outlet for the thousands of megawatts of renewable electricity that could one day be generated by wind turbines off the state’s coast, said Joseph Minott, executive director of the Clean Air Council, an area environmental group.

Bluewater Wind plans to build a small wind farm off Rehoboth Beach and sell the electricity to Delmarva Power, but the firm also hopes to expand that farm in the future to feed more power to the grid.

If the transmission grid is strong enough, Delaware could export power throughout the region, Minott said, explaining why he favors the project.

“If you’re going to create a vibrant market for wind energy, you need to be able to transmit it further than the town at the end of the beach,” said Minott, who added that he had “trepidation and concerns” about the lines being used also to expand the reach for coal-generated power.

Rob Gramlich, policy director for the American Wind Energy Association, said a better transmission system is needed for onshore wind farms to carry their output to the wider populace.

Offshore wind is different, he said. Although it’s more expensive than onshore wind, its appeal is in its proximity to population centers, he said. It doesn’t take very many miles of transmission to get the power where it’s needed, he said — a problem for generators of wind power in the nation’s more sparsely populated heartland.

Nick DiPasquale of Delaware Audubon said he would rather see small, localized, mainly renewable power sources instead of big lines that carry power from big coal-burning power plants. He’s concerned about where the Power Pathway would go.

“If it means converting protected land to developed land — even if the profile is relatively small — I would find that a very troubling precedent,” he said.

Utilities lose power when current is transmitted over long distances, said Carol Overland, a Minnesota attorney and electrical consultant who has been active on Delaware environmental issues. She said conservation and renewable-energy projects, using the existing power grid, should be sufficient.

State Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, expressed concern that electromagnetic force, or EMF, from power lines has been investigated as a cause of childhood leukemia.

In a letter to Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., he wrote, “There is a grave concern amongst many Delawareans” about the line.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no scientific consensus on the health effects of EMF.

Pepco Holdings owns the rights to much of the land it needs. It’s planning to build the larger line along a right of way that already features smaller power lines.

But within the section of the line that runs from Indian River north to Salem, there will be areas where the right of way needs to be widened, the utility has said.

And there’s a yet-to-be-specified section in southeast New Castle County where the Pathway would break from the existing power line along Del. 9 and head toward the Delaware Bay, where it would cross and connect with the Salem/Hope Creek nuclear plant.

That will require Pepco Holdings to acquire eight miles of new right of way, company officials said last week.

“Whether it’s dry land, wet land, high land, I wouldn’t want to answer that question right now,” said Vince Maione, pathway project manager for Pepco. He added that the company wants to minimize impacts on the environment and the population.

PJM is still reviewing Pepco Holdings’ application for the portion of the line running north from Indian River. Once that confirmation comes, Pepco Holdings will develop the path in greater detail, Maione said.

To cross the Delaware River, the utility wants to build a second overhead crossing, about six to eight miles south of its current line.

The company has not been in touch with Delaware landowners regarding easements, said Matt Likovich, a Delmarva spokesman.

Delaware state government has little control over the portions of the line for which Delmarva already has rights of way. Unlike in Maryland, this state’s Public Service Commission does not have the authority to approve the location of a transmission line.

One of the few categories where state government has oversight is where a planned power line would cross natural areas like bodies of water and wetlands. Pepco Holdings has not been in touch to request a permit, said Philip Cherry, a state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control policy manager.

But Delmarva lacks leverage, at least on the state level, when it comes to expanding beyond its rights of way.

The state eminent-domain law doesn’t give the utility the right to seize land for a power project. Likovich said if the company can’t reach an agreement with a landowner, “we will have to construct the line by going around the property in question.”

But the utility may hold a trump card: the U.S. Energy Department last year designated Delaware part of a region where the federal government can order an electricity project finished if states fail to do so.

Delmarva officials say they’ll work hard to negotiate with landowners to avoid the issue of eminent domain.

“It doesn’t benefit anyone to take anyone’s land,” Maione said. Pressed about whether the utility would be OK with the government seizing land for the project, he said, “We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Meanwhile, in Sussex County, Pepco Holdings held a community meeting in Gumboro on Thursday night, attracting 50 members of the public. The next meeting is Wednesday night in Millsboro.

Carper said the question of the power line needs to be considered in a larger context. He harkened back to the construction of Del. 1 to handle an increase in north-south travel, noting that along with the new road came a look at expanding public transit, car-pooling, and other alternatives to driving.

“Upgrading power lines on the Delmarva Peninsula may be necessary, but I hope Delawareans will take this opportunity to look not only at where a power line might go, but also at how they could help reduce the need for a new line in the first place,” Carper said.

He said that could come by saving electricity, installing solar panels on their homes, adding insulation, purchasing Energy Star appliances, or taking other steps to save electricity.

Additional Facts
IF YOU GO

The next community meeting about the power line will be held Wednesday at the Millsboro Civic Center, 322 Wilson Highway, 6 p.m.

Otter Tail Corporation’s Corporate Governance Page

Otter Tail’s David Sasseville (Lindquist & Vennum) said that they had no objection to administrative of their filings of June 3, 2008. What else did he have to say? Here’s his missive after I filed the mncoalgasplant.com Motion for Disclosure & Commission Notice; Exhibit A – Otter Tail Power 8k filing to, duh, have the filing disclosed and for Official Notice by the Public Utilities Commission:

This reply is submitted on behalf of the Big Stone II Applicants, and that project’s lead developer, Otter Tail Power Company. Ms. Overland’s communication to the Commission and the parties in the Big Stone II transmission docket regarding Otter Tail’s filing yesterday was inappropriate and unnecessary. Otter Tail has not formed a holding company and has not reorganized. Rather, it merely filed applications yesterday in Minnesota, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, North Dakota and South Dakota for permission to form a holding company. The SEC filing referenced by Ms. Overland merely reflects the fact that Otter Tail is seeking permission to form a holding company. Whether that ultimately occurs, and whether and how Otter Tail’s organizational structure changes, will be resolved in the context of the FERC, SDPUC and NDPSC dockets, and the MPUC docket that was created yesterday (No. PA-08-658). Under no circumstances will yesterday’s filing have an impact on the Big Stone II docket, or on Otter Tail’s ability to proceed with its obligations and commitments in that docket. Otter Tail’s filing is available electronically at the PUC’s web site. In addition, Ms. Overland and/or MNCoalgasplant.com may add their names to the mailing list in the docket to receive future filings in the matter. David L. Sasseville Lindquist & Vennum P.L.L.P. 4200 IDS Center 80 South Eighth Street Minneapolis, MN 55402 612/371-3237 612/371-3207 (fax)

Yes, the filing is NOW available on the PUC eDockets site. Go to www.puc.state.mn.us and then to “eDockets” on the left, and then to “Search Documents” and search for 08-658. Inappropriate and unnecessary? When the parties are making final arguments in the Big Stone II case and Commission is making a decision, it’s fully appropriate to nail down disclosure and notice by the Commission … sigh… and here’s my response:

Mr. Sasseville and all: It is my belief and the purpose of this Motion that: 1) this filing should be formally disclosed within the Big Stone II proceeding by Otter Tail Corporation/Otter Tail Power (as of your missive, it now has been acknowledged); and 2) this filing should receive Official Notice in the Big Stone II deliberation by the Public Utilities commission. It is unknown whether there will be any impact, and the Motion does not address substantive issues of the reorganization nor suggest that substantive issues be addressed in the Big Stone docket, just that it should be disclosed and receive Official Notice of the Commission. Carol A. Overland for mncoalgasplant.com

To which he responded:

Ms. Overland: Your email implies that the Otter Tail filing portends something the Commission should be aware of, but isn’t, and that such information is a matter of actual or potential significance to the proper determination of the Big Stone II Transmission Certificate of Need and Route Permit proceeding tomorrow. While these implications are unfounded, the Big Stone II Applicants, including Otter Tail, have no objection to the Commission taking administrative notice of any and all docket filings in matters before it, including Otter Tail’s June 3, 2008 filing, and assigning whatever weight to those filings it believes is appropriate.

Well, that’s good, “the Big Stone II Applicants, including Otter Tail, have no objection to the Commission taking administrative notice of any and all docket filings in matters before it, including Otter Tail’s June 3, 2008 filing…” which is the entire point! Get it out there in the open…

Otter Tail Corporation’s News Release Page – do you see a press release about this filing?

…so then I says:

Mr. Sasseville – My concern, again, is twofold, first, that Otter Tail disclose the fact of the filings to the Commission and the parties (I do not believe this had been done prior) and it should be in the record, and second, that the Commission take administrative notice of these filings. That’s all. Because you state that “the Big Stone II Applicants, including Otter Tail, have no objection to the Commission taking administrative notice of any and all docket filings in matters before it, including Otter Tail’s June 3, 2008, filing,” I trust that disclosure and a statement that Otter Tail has no objection will occur.. Thank you for your statement of Otter Tail’s position. Carol for mncoalgasplant.com

And so what happened at the deliberation, what’s happening right now? Who knows… Was this addressed? Who knows…

We’re paying $4.9 billion to rebuild the Iraqi electrical system that we destroyed? What the hell do we think we’re doing there? Are we bombing them back to the stone age so corporations can make $$$$ — well, I think that’s already been established. Who benefits, who pays?

Anyone concerned about security of our electric grid should be working for distributed generation and away from vulnerable large generators a long way from load connected by vulnerable transmission lines. It’s a “DUH!” So why don’t “we” get it?

From LA Times via Truthout today, a nuts and bolts example of what we’ve done to Iraq, another argument for distributed generation, and another example of US corporations profiting from our destruction:

A Different Kind of Power Struggle in Iraq

By Alexandra Zavis
The Los Angeles Times

Monday 24 March 2008

Most residents get only a few hours of electricity a day. In a reversal of the old days, the problem is stickiest in Baghdad.

Baghdad – Khitam Radi remembers how excited she was the day her husband took her out to buy their first washing machine.

It was soon after Saddam Hussein’s fall. Foreign soldiers, journalists and officials were snapping up her artist husband’s paintings as souvenirs. The newlyweds had everything to hope for.

Now, there are days when she hates that machine. With no electricity most of the time to pump water to their apartment, Radi has to wait in line to fill her jerrycans at a communal faucet, haul the water up four flights of stairs and wash her family’s clothes by hand.

“I feel like someone is torturing me,” she said. “The Americans promised to make our lives better…. But after five years, nothing has changed.”

Violence may have dropped in Iraq, but the absence of reliable electricity remains one of the bitterest disappointments of the last five years.

The United States has devoted $4.9 billion to improve the power supply since U.S.-led forces invaded in 2003. But most Iraqis can count on only a few hours of electricity a day, especially when demand peaks in the summer and winter.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say progress has been made but warn it will take years to bring Iraq’s dilapidated system up to Western standards, an effort made even more challenging by surging demand for electricity in the last five years.

The country’s electricity woes long predate this war. The system was heavily damaged during Iraq’s eight-year conflict with Iran in the 1980s and during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. It continued to deteriorate the next dozen years under the United Nations embargo, when spare parts were hard to come by.

By 2003, the World Bank estimated that it would cost $20 billion to rehabilitate the electricity network, and the price tag continues to go up. The Iraqi government’s current estimate is $27 billion.

U.S. officials never intended to do more than jump-start the process, said Col. Mike Moon, who heads the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ electricity sector in Iraq.

The U.S. investment has added just over 2,200 megawatts to Iraq’s generating capacity, which now stands at about 5,500 megawatts.

Five years ago, that would have been enough to cover the country’s electricity needs, but demand has increased 125% because Iraqis are buying more energy-intensive devices, said Terrence Barnich, a senior advisor with the U.S. government’s Iraq Transition Assistance Office.

Since the fall of Hussein’s regime, Iraq has been flooded with cheap electrical imports from China, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Already, stacks of fans, water-based air coolers and refrigerators are displayed in front of stores in anticipation of summer, when temperatures can approach 120 degrees.

Adding generating capacity has helped, but the amount of power produced on any given day rarely reaches peak potential. For a start, keeping the turbines spinning requires fuel. Iraq has the world’s second-largest proven oil reserves, but its refining capabilities are limited and its power plants are beset by fuel shortages. Oil and electricity installations are also constantly attacked, creating disruptions that can destabilize the entire network.

Nearly 1,200 electricity employees have been kidnapped or killed or have fled the country since 2003, Electricity Minister Karim Waheed told reporters in August.

“We cannot ask our employees to work in certain parts of Iraq due to the insecurity,” he said. “I mean, they are workers. They are not army soldiers.”

Despite those setbacks, electricity production averaged 4,380 megawatts a day in the last quarter of 2007, enough to meet nearly half of the national demand, according to a report by the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

But how much electricity is available to consumers varies greatly. Priority is given to essential services such as hospitals, police stations, fire stations and water treatment and sewage plants. So nearby homes and businesses enjoy a near-continuous supply of power.

Government offices and universities are in the next category. “Then there is everybody else,” Moon said. “They are the first ones to lose power.”

The pain of frequent outages is felt most acutely in Baghdad, which received 16 to 24 hours of power a day before 2003.

Hussein diverted electricity from the provinces to keep the capital fully powered, but the current government is striving for a more equitable distribution across the country. That means that Baghdad receives less power while the rest of the country typically receives more.

Baghdad also suffers disproportionately from the effects of the violence. Most of Iraq’s power is generated in the north and south of the country, and the towers supporting the lines that bring electricity to the capital are frequent targets.

To make matters worse, some parts of the country are taking more than their share of electricity before it reaches Baghdad. With no central means to control the flow of electricity from far-flung power stations, officials in Baghdad must get on the phone with their provincial counterparts and ask them to flip a switch to redirect power to the capital. Often they refuse, Waheed said.

In some cases, this is a result of a sense of entitlement on the part of provinces that were starved of power under Hussein.

But employees at local control stations are also at the mercy of armed gangs who force them to keep power flowing to their areas, Waheed said. He singled out the cities of Basra, Mosul and Baqubah as among the worst culprits.

As temperatures rise after an unusually cold winter, pressure is easing on the national grid and Baghdad residents are enjoying 10 to 14 hours of power a day. But the supply is unpredictable.

When the lights suddenly come on, Radi jumps up from the table where she has been chatting with a visitor and starts stuffing clothes into the washing machine in hopes of getting a load done before losing power again. She then switches on the TV so her two toddlers can watch cartoons, and she can relax. But the certainty that they will soon be sweating through the summer keeps the family from fully enjoying this respite.

Most families supplement their meager electricity supply with power from a generator. Few can afford the fuel to run their own, but in most neighborhoods an entrepreneur will sell them a few extra hours of power from a shared generator for about $50 a month. But even that’s too expensive for Radi’s family.

She says she doesn’t even bother putting food into the refrigerator anymore; it would just spoil. Instead, she buys blocks of ice, which she breaks into chips to fill a cooler. On hot summer nights, she and her family curl up on the roof to catch the evening breeze. But even there, it is sometimes too stifling to sleep.

“I feel sick just thinking about it,” Radi said.

To help meet the summer demand, Waheed has been negotiating deals to buy electricity from Iran and Turkey, and diesel to keep his plants running.

Taking advantage of the improved security, the ministry’s crews have been making much-needed repairs to the lines that bring power to the capital.

For the first time in five years, Moon said, “I think it could be a very bearable summer.”

——–

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Times staff writer Usama Redha in Baghdad contributed to this report.

The 3M Museum in Two Harbors, Minnesota

Remember not long ago the report that the Minnesota Health Department, when confronted with PFOA contamination of municipal wells by 3M, decided to take “further steps to protect the health of residents” and to do this they RAISE ACCEPTABLE LIMITS OF PFOA rather than come down hard on the polluters? WRONG ANSWER, FOLKS.

Cottage Grove wary of water assurances 

Here’s the MN Dept. of Health press release:

Minnesota Department of Health
News Release

March 1, 2007

Health officials issue new health guidelines for PFOA, PFOS; reiterate protective advice on PFBA

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced today that it is taking further steps to protect the health of residents in south Washington County from long-term exposure to perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in groundwater.

Based on the latest scientific information, MDH has lowered its Health Based Values (HBVs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), two members of PFC group of chemicals that have been found at low levels in groundwater in southern Washington County. The new HBVs are 0.5 parts per billion (ppb) for PFOA and 0.3 ppb for PFOS. The guidelines previously used were 1 ppb and 0.6 ppb respectively.

“We have been reviewing the available data over the last few months and concluded that there is sufficient scientific basis at this time to justify revising the health based values for PFOA and PFOS,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach.

While research to date has shown no direct evidence that PFCs cause health problems in humans, studies in laboratory animals indicate that at higher doses, PFCs may interfere with liver and thyroid function and may cause developmental effects.

“The new values are protective, scientifically sound and well-researched,” said John Linc Stine, director of the Environmental Health Division for MDH. The new value for PFOA, 0.5 ppb, is the same as a number implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an enforcement action in West Virginia that became effective Nov. 17, 2006.

A Health Based Value is the concentration of a groundwater contaminant, or a mixture of contaminants, that poses little or no risk to health, even if consumed daily over a lifetime. The updated HBVs for PFOA and PFOS take into consideration the potential for health impacts during fetal and other developmental life stages. A clearer understanding of how long these chemicals stay in the human body is also reflecteded in the revised HBVs.

MDH is working with Oakdale and Lake Elmo to address public and private wells that may be affected by the lowering of the HBVs for PFOA and PFOS. Most residents in the Lake Elmo and Oakdale area will not be affected by the change because they are connected to municipal water systems that don’t contain PFCs or treat the groundwater before distribution.

The lowering of the Health Based Values for PFOA and PFOS does not affect those portions of southern Washington County and northern Dakota County where only perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), another PFC compound, has been found in groundwater.

Those areas fall under the department’s drinking water advice on PFBA, which the department reiterated today.

“We recommend that anyone who has concerns about the potential health impacts from PFBA in their water should limit or reduce their intake of water that has a concentration of more than 1 ppb,” Stine said.

Intake of contaminated drinking water can be reduced by drinking bottled water or by filtering tap water used for drinking or cooking through a point-of-use (POU) activated carbon filter, which removes or greatly reduces PFBA. Water used for bathing, showering or other non-ingestive household uses does not pose a health risk, based on current data.

“We’ve had an initial round of community meetings where more than 800 people heard our advice and heard us talk about things they can do to limit their exposure if they choose,” Stine said. “But we know that there are far more than 800 people in the communities and areas affected by the contamination, so we want to take every opportunity we can to re-emphasize our advice. We also want to share as broadly as possible what we know about point-of-use filters, small, inexpensive filters that can be used to filter tap water.”

Point-of-use (POU) filters can be an effective way to reduce exposure, MDH staff found. They recently tested a number of POU filters commonly available in stores. The testing found that a simple pitcher filter that contains activated carbon was partially effective at removing PFBA from the water, but allows more PFBA to pass through as additional water is filtered. A faucet-mounted filter containing activated carbon worked better, showing full removal of PFBA through about half of its manufacturer’s predicted filter lifetime, and good removal at up to 70-80 percent of its lifetime. Faucet-mounted filtering devices commonly range in price from $15 to $25 and replacement filters cost approximately $15 to $20. Additional information on POU filters with activated carbon is available from the MDH Web site or by calling 651-201-4897.

Stine said MDH staff have determined that sufficient toxicity data does not exist to calculate a chemical-specific HBV for PFBA. However, the advice is based on a comparison of the existing PFBA data to what is known about other PFCs.

“The data that are available for PFBA indicate that this chemical is less toxic than PFOA, a similar chemical,” Stine said. “We believe that 1 ppb is a protective number for PFBA, based on the most recent science, and is protective even of those who may have higher relative water consumption rates, such as pregnant women, nursing mothers and small children.”

Mandernach added, “As more data become available, we will examine it, with the intent of developing a Health Based Value for PFBA. We will continue to work with the EPA, private sector and academia, to accelerate that research and continue to consult with experts on this group of chemicals.”

-MDH-

For more information, contact:

Doug Schultz
MDH Communications
(651) 201-4993

John Linc Stine
MDH Environmental Health
(651) 201-4675

Rep. Sandy Wollschlager is in the 3M Environmental department — I expect her to represent her constituency and utilize her connections, to take a leadership role in this and broker a resolution of strong company and MDH and MPCA action, remediation, prevention, company liability to those with contaminated water and harm, and massive fines to 3M.

Today, there’s this in the STrib:

Study: Death rate up for 3M workers exposed to PFOA

By TOM MEERSMAN, Star Tribune

March 5, 2008

Workers who were exposed to a chemical called PFOA at 3M’s factory in Cottage Grove died of stroke and prostate cancer at higher rates than other workers at the plant, according to a new industry-funded study.

The study of nearly 4,000 people who worked at the plant from 1943 to 1997 found elevated stroke and prostate cancer death rates among those exposed to the chemical, which was used until 2000 for nonstick coatings and other products.

Workers with the highest exposures were twice as likely to die of prostate cancer and stroke than colleagues with little or no exposure to the chemical, the study found.

The death rates from those diseases among all workers at that plant were similar to those of the general population, leading 3M officials to call the difference a statistical anomaly.

“Nothing in this study changes our conclusion that there are no adverse health effects from PFOA,” 3M spokesman Bill Nelson said Wednesday.

3M manufactured PFOA from 1947 to 2000 at its Cottage Grove plant and phased out production by 2002. It was used for nonstick cookware, stain-repellent coatings and dozens of other products.

Starting in the 1970s, scientists became concerned about the tendency of PFOA — perfluorooctanoic acid — and other perfluorochemicals to accumulate in people’s blood. 3M started monitoring the health of its employees who worked with the chemical, and in 1980 undertook the first occupational mortality study of its workers.

Although PFOA has been shown to cause liver, pancreatic and testicular cancer in laboratory animals, 3M has maintained that studies of its workers show no health problems.

Dated August 2007

The latest study was financed by 3M and conducted by Bruce Alexander, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist. Although dated August 2007, the study wasn’t placed in a public file with the Environmental Protection Agency until last month.

Alexander did not respond to several requests for comment, and Nelson said Alexander would not talk about the study publicly because it has not been peer-reviewed by scientists and published in a scientific journal.

The study of Cottage Grove workers included nearly 4,000 people who worked at the plant for at least a year any time from 1943 until the end of 1997. About 12 percent of them had definite exposure to the chemical, which can be absorbed through “inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact,” the study said. The rest were evenly divided between those who probably had some exposure to it, and those who had no exposure.

Researchers studied death certificates for workers through Dec. 31, 2002.

“A high or moderate exposure work history, compared to only working in low exposure jobs, was associated with an increased risk for [stroke] and prostate cancer,” it concluded.

Nelson said that differences between the employee groups led to “skewed ratios,” and that the important thing is that overall results for employees show no higher cancer risks than for the state’s population.

However, the researchers also noted that mortality studies “miss the cases that do not result in death,” or that for some reason “may not be listed as contributing causes of death on a death certificate.”

They mentioned that the association between prostate cancer and exposure to PFOA was similar to research conducted by others in 1993. That study found that those who worked for 10 years in the chemical division at the Cottage Grove plant had three times more prostate cancer deaths than those who worked for a decade in nonchemical areas there.

Nelson said that the 1993 research was a “flawed study” because it incorrectly characterized some of the exposed workers, and that the research was disproved by a 2002 study. He agreed with the latest study’s findings that more analysis is needed, now that the mortality study is done.

“Instead of death rates, we plan to look at the incidence of prostate cancer,” Nelson said. “That would be the next step.”

Informing the public

John Linc Stine, environmental health division director for the Minnesota Department of Health, said state officials received the latest 3M study of its Cottage Grove workers Wednesday and have not had time to review it.

Stine said it’s important that 3M has done the work, and that the public will want to know what it means. PFOA is more than merely a concern for 3M workers: Community wells in Oakdale and private wells in Lake Elmo were contaminated with the chemical, likely from wastes that 3M sent to dumps in those areas decades ago. The company has paid for Oakdale to install a huge water filtration system to remove all perfluorochemicals, and for more than 200 private wells in Lake Elmo to be hooked up to untainted city water.

“It’s likely that people exposed to this chemical in drinking water will want to know if they are at elevated levels for heart disease or stroke or cancer,” Stine said. “I can’t answer those questions now but we will look at the study and try to put it in context for the communities.”

Information about the research comes just a week after state health officials relaxed a limit for a different perfluorochemical, PFBA, that has been detected in groundwater beneath much of the east metro area. Water supplies in those communities are no longer considered to be contaminated except for a few private households, which continue to use bottled water or filtering systems.

Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388

Today is day two of a coal, or NO coal, conference in Houston. The weather is BEA-UUU-TI-FUL, but internet connection is sketchy, so before I lose it, here’s the presentation from this a.m. from moi, Nancy LaPlaca and Alan Muller:

IGCC – Pipedreams of Green and Clean

More later…