TAMA, Iowa — When the Tama Paperboard Mill closed down in 2023, current Tama mayor Brian Hanus had no idea he would be using part of the mill to treat the city's water.
Construction workers tore down part of the paper mill in 2023, leaving office space and the empty warehouse, which mayor Hanus hopes could eventually turn into the city's standalone police department.
But when the mill offered the city $100 for its two deep water wells after the city discovered a potential carcinogen in its well water supply, it was a no brainer for Hanus.
Environmental officials tested the city's short water wells in 2023, and discovered PFOS, or Perfluorooctanoicsulfonic acid, a carcinogen that was at a level too high for quality standards.
"It's in a lot of different things, nobody can really point the finger of where it really comes from," Mayor Hanus told Local 5.
He added residents have been drinking this water for years, but "people that have health history, or issues, maybe they'll want to switch to a filtration system in their home."
Now, the city is in the planning stages with engineers to construct a new water treatment plant and make those two deep water wells operational again. Hanus said, when officials tested the wells for chemicals, the results "came back good."
It will still be about three years until the water treatment plant and wells will be fully operational to treat Tama's water.
Hanus said the city of Tama is grateful the paper mill offered the two water wells, because he said it'd be very expensive to have to drill new wells into the ground to have the same effect on the city's water supply.