54 | PFAS in Water (Cass Lake, MN)

Thanks for listening to The Watershed, a podcast of We Are Water MN. In this episode, we hear from Jeffrey Harper, water resources manager for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's division of resource management. Harper shares community concerns surround PFAS, including background on these substances, stories, and his team's efforts to address them.

The We Are Water MN exhibit will be hosted by Leech Lake Tribal College at their Bezhigoogahbow Library in Cass Lake from August 15 through October 6, 2024. From there, it will move to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.

You can learn more about We Are Water MN at www.mnhum.org/water.

This episode of the Watershed was produced by Angela Hugunin, and by We Are Water MN, which is led by the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; the Minnesota Historical Society; the Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; and University of Minnesota Extension.

We are Water MN is funded in part with money from the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 and by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Special thanks to Emma Needham, who conducted our interviews for Leech Lake Tribal College. Thank you to Jeffrey Harper, our interviewee for this episode.

You can find We Are Water MN on Facebook (⁠https://www.facebook.com/wearewatermn/⁠), Instagram (⁠https://www.instagram.com/wearewatermn/⁠), and Twitter (⁠https://twitter.com/wearewatermn⁠). Follow along for the latest updates!

Organizations and resources mentioned in this episode:

· Leech Lake Division of Resource Management: https://www.llojibwe.org/drm/

· Minnesota’s PFAS blueprint: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land-climate/minnesotas-pfas-blueprint

· PFAS information from the Minnesota Department of Health: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/hazardous/topics/pfcs.html

· PFAS and health: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/hazardous/topics/pfashealth.html

· Interactive map with PFAS testing of MN’s drinking water: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/pfasmap.html

· Fish consumption guidance: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/fish/index.html

Music credits: These Times and Slate Tracker by Blue Dot Sessions (⁠www.sessions.blue⁠).