More results from contentious well study set for December

By: Associated Press//November 25, 2019//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Researchers plan next month to release more findings from a pollution study conducted in southwestern Wisconsin.

Scientists sampled 840 wells in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties in November 2018 and April 2019. About 32% showed evidence of bacterial or nitrate pollution.

They tested 35 of those wells and discovered 91% were contaminated with human and animal fecal matter.

Lafayette County officials accused media outlets of reporting 91% of the region’s wells are polluted. They drafted a resolution warning that journalists who report on future study results without quoting a county news release verbatim would be prosecuted. The board ultimately tabled the resolution amid a firestorm of criticism.

The study leader Ken Bradbury says researchers plan to test three more 35-well subsets. He says the next round of results will be released the first week of December. He didn’t know when.

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