Who are Citizens Opposed to Municipal Water (COMW)?

COMW started as a group of concerned West Lakeland Township (WLT) residents who opposed the initial plans to install municipal water as the solution to PFAS contamination in groundwater as part of the 3M settlement fund plan.

Initially we organized to build on grassroots momentum of those opposed coming out of the June 30, 2021 meeting to increase the volume and intensity of messages in opposition to municipal water to the 3M settlement Co-Trustees. It also seemed clear that the only way for our concerns to be heard was to hire legal representation and seek injunctive relief in court and slow down the process. Our initial plan was to focus on the following issues and concerns:

• The townships leaders are biased towards municipal water and have not fought on behalf of the majority of the residents of WLT 
• Most residents in WLT are happy with their POETS and wells
• We see no reason to spend millions of dollars to fix a problem that already has a working solution 
• Fear of how municipal water will change our township with more government overreach and over development 
• Focus Engineering involvement in a flawed survey
• Stop forced capping of our wells
• Get answers to why our filters will no longer be paid for by the 3M settlement
• Address the continued call for a 5-person township board

We started organizing and researching information after the June 30, 2021 meeting. We suspect our research and open data requests contributed significantly to the last-minute pivot away from a townshipwide water system and helped ensure the preservation of private wells with POET GAC filter systems funded by the 3M settlement for WLT residents.

As we dug further into the details and history surrounding the drive for municipal water in WLT what we found surprised us. it quickly became clear the issues are much larger than just POETS vs Municipal water and how best to use the 3M settlement funds. Unfortunately, as fellow residents like you, none of us had any idea we would uncover so many instances of unlawful practices and purposeful deception by the WLT board. We were shocked and disappointed.

The intent of our actions is only to return West Lakeland township to transparent, truthful, and accurate governance that follows all applicable laws and regulations as they apply to private landowners and elected officials.

There is a lot of information being shared through this site and a great deal of research is behind it. All statements and facts are based on MN statutes and the publicly available documents we have been able to obtain. However, we still have public information requests to West Lakeland Township, the DNR and the MPCA that have not yet been addressed so the research and fact gathering activities are ongoing.

As stated on the home page, when COMW organized around this issue in July of 2021, we had no idea we would uncover so many instances of unlawful practices and purposeful deception. We think there was no other option but to proceed with legal action to halt any further action by the WLT Board until all the issues relating to the final CDWP plan and the many other issues discovered could be addressed openly and transparently with all WLT residents. We are hoping for a swift resolution to this case and the issues identified. We know it is in the best interest of all WLT residents to see this quickly come to a close.