A landfill is where the discarded residue of everyone’s lives is buried out of sight. But out of sight is far from out of mind for the people entrusted to handle what happens next. One of the most vexing issues created in landfills today is the presence of “forever chemicals,” officially known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, which do not break down in water, soil or air. In Rice County’s Bridgewater Township, an innovative approach to remove forever chemicals from the water that leaches out of the landfill is being explored with the University of Minnesota through the Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (ESMC) program .

It started with a fire

Rice County’s 450-acre landfill in Bridgewater Township sits east of I-35 and serves 68,000 people. Each year, the country ge

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