The Rapid City Journal is reporting that Sioux Falls is dealing with the possibility of serious water contamination in the city's water.

It's reported that the city has shut down 19 of its municipal wells due to countless gallons of toxic firefighting foam that contaminated the land of the Sioux Falls airport some 50 years ago.

"Today, 19 municipal wells sit dormant. Chemicals linked to cancer and other health maladies have contaminated 15 of those wells, including 10 with concentrations above what the Environmental Protection Agency deems safe," reported Samuel Blackstone of the Rapid City Journal. "Foam use by the South Dakota Air National Guard and Sioux Falls Fire Department is the cause."

According to the Journal, the chemicals in this foam have been linked to cancer and other health issues. This carcinogenic foam that is now contaminating the Sioux Falls water supply is said to have been used for years by the Sioux Falls Fire Department and the South Dakota Air Nation Guard on and near the city airport.

At this time the Rapid City Journal reports that 28 percent of Sioux Falls water production that comes from the Big Sioux aquifer has been shut down.

"As city officials grapple with the well shutdowns — representing 28 percent of the city's water production from the Big Sioux aquifer — it may soon face an even larger challenge when citizens begin to learn how long their drinking water was contaminated before it was detected and the wells taken offline. As that question looms, the contamination's scope remains unclear."

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