【China Molybdenum Industry News Network】

The Department of Natural Resources said Thursday that molybdenum contamination in private wells has been detected in a larger area of southeastern Wisconsin than previously identified.

The DNR said that molybdenum levels above standards for safe drinking water have been found in private wells in areas bordering the city of Racine and Mount Pleasant and areas bordering Yorkville and Dover in Racine County and as far south as Somers in Kenosha County.

Based on earlier testing in January, molybdenum had been found in Franklin and Oak Creek in Milwaukee County, Muskego in Waukesha County and Caledonia, Raymond and Norway in Racine County.

The agency is urging people living in thousands of homes near affected areas to consider having their wells tested for molybdenum.

In January, the DNR reported in a study that 44 out of 153 private wells it had tested - or 29% - had elevated amounts of molybdenum.As of May 8, 798 samples had been taken. A total of 371 reported elevated levels, or 46%.

The DNR could not provide an estimate late Thursday afternoon of the number of wells affected.The state groundwater standard is 40 micrograms per liter, and generally, molybdenum is detected in groundwater at about 1 microgram per liter.

Molybdenum is a naturally occurring metal. In small amounts it is an essential nutrient. But excessive levels are not healthy and can lead to digestive problems and gout.Nitschke said the agency hasn't received reports of people getting sick from molybdenum.Still, he said the DNR is looking for a source of the contamination and is using its website to update the public on what it knows.

In January, the DNR reported that potential sources included a We Energies coal ash landfill in Caledonia, Hunts Disposal Landfill, also in Caledonia, and a PPG Industries property about three miles west of We Energies Oak Creek power plant.But because there was no pattern in the locations of tainted wells, the agency said it did not believe the source of contamination came from a single source.It also did not discount naturally occurring molybdenum as the cause.

Nitschke said with more results and working with other agencies including U.S. Geological Survey, his agency is drawing the same conclusions as it did in January.

The DNR first learned there was a problem in 2009 when a handful of wells in Caledonia showed molybdenum levels above the state standard.

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