FAIRMONT – Thanks to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, Freshwater is launching a free well water testing program for arsenic.

The program covers Rice, Steele, Freeborn, Waseca, Faribault, Blue Earth, Watonwan and Martin counties. Recently, they sent out 4,000 postcards in this area letting residents know about this program.

Public Affairs Director Chris O’Brien said this program came about through a proposal to the Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.

“The idea was that arsenic is a lesser-known contaminant in well water in Minnesota and is somewhat common,” he said. “We see it in about 10 percent of private wells statewide, but then there are areas where its prevalence is higher.”

This includes Faribault and Blue Earth Counties, where 28 percent and 27 percent of private wells have elevated arsenic, respectively.

Freshwater has worked on the policy side for many years, making an on-the-ground program like this new. O’Brien said they are excited to do this for the first time and work with Mayo Clinic to have a public health perspective on the project.

As for what makes now the right time to do this, Program Manager Chyann Mosey said private wells are a lesser-understood health risk for people.

“There’s just been, historically, not as much focus on private well education and helping folks understand this is something they even need to be concerned about,” she said. That’s one area that Freshwater tends to work within, is identifying some of those gaps.”

In terms of potential health risks, O’Brien said even low levels of arsenic over time can be detrimental to health.

“Our partners at the Mayo Clinic have talked about increased instances of certain types of cancer caused by long-term arsenic exposure,” he said. “We’ve seen potentially cognitive problems in children who are exposed to arsenic at early ages, so it’s definitely something that you want to make sure that you test and treat to protect your health and the health of your family.”

Overall, the goal for the project is to test 8,000 or more wells over the next three years in the project area. He said they want to do at least 5,000 through online kits that can be mailed out to people for free, and at least 3,000 through in-person events.

For doing this two-prong approach, O’Brien said there are two main reasons.

“One is we want to make this as easy as possible for people to screen their water for arsenic,” he said. “We’re trying to reduce as many barriers as possible, including the cost as part of that, just by sending directly to their door. Also, we want to meet people in the community, in the places that they already gather and make testing available that way as well.”

There are no planned in-person events right now, but they will be coming in the near future.

Once the water is collected in the kit, which includes all the instructions necessary for safe collection and mailing back, SimpleLab will handle the testing and send out results and guidance on next steps back.

In addition to reaching their goals, Mosey said they hope this program will help raise awareness about this issue and its potential impacts.

“The risks of arsenic, particularly as it relates to this geography that we’re working within. Just because your water may look clean, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s safe, even if it’s something that you’ve been drinking your whole life and you’ve never tested it. Getting it tested is the best way to understand the risk that your water may pose.”

For more information and updates, visit freshwater.org/rural_health_and_drinking_water/. A test can be ordered there or through gosimplelab.com/store/rhadw.