Forum will focus on drinking water contaminants

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Drinking Water Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) Program will hold an Advisory Forum from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 9, at MDH’s Snelling Office Park (1645 Energy Park Drive, St. Paul, MN 55108).

The forum is open to anyone concerned about protecting the state’s water resources from contaminants. It is an opportunity to share information related to contaminants of emerging concern and to learn more about CEC program activities.

This is the second forum since the program began; the first forum was held in January of 2011 and invitees included representatives from local, state, and federal government agencies, academic programs, nonprofit groups, industry groups and drinking water and wastewater professional organizations, as well as the general public.

Agenda items for this meeting include:

Brief program overview

Presentation by MDH staff on “Is My Water Safe to Drink? Public Perception, Attitudes and Trusted Information,” a report from the Baseline Needs Assessment/Focus Group project

Presentation from Minnesota Department of Agriculture on its Water Quality Monitoring and Pesticide Programs

Open microphone: Updates from agencies, organizations on emerging contaminant activities, nominations of contaminants, etc.

If you have questions or would like to participate via the Web, contact Michele Ross at michele.ross@state.mn.us or 651-201-4927.

More information on the Advisory Forum can be found at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/risk/guidance/dwec/advisory.html

More background on the Contaminants of Emerging Concern program, which is funded by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, can be found on the MDH website at www.health.state.mn.us/cec.

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