“LANSING, MI — The state government this week issued new fish consumption advisories for lakes and rivers in three counties after tests confirmed the presence of toxic chemicals.

Fish in three lakes and a section of the Au Sable River were tested as part of state response to revelations about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also called PFAS or PFCs, according to a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services press release.

The tests found elevated levels of one of those chemicals, PFOS, as well as mercury in multiple fish species collected from Freska Lake and Versluis Lake in Kent County, Lake Margrethe in Crawford County and a section of the Au Sable River between Grayling and Mio.

Those discoveries prompted the department to issue new “East Safe Fish” guidelines for fish caught in the four waterways, announced by the state Thursday, March 15…

In 2012, the state issued a “do not eat” advisory for all fish caught in Clark’s Marsh and the lower Au Sable River downstream of the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, where high levels of PFAS chemicals were found in groundwater. The chemicals have been found there, and at other military bases, as a reminder of their presence in firefighting foam used there…

An aquatic biologist for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Resources Division told MLive in November the state plans a wider Rogue River fish study for 2018. Fish collections from the Rogue River are still planned for the spring and summer, according to a spokesperson from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services…

Freska Lake is an about 60-acre lake in Plainfield Township near the northwestern corner of the area being studied for PFAS contamination in connection with Wolverine World Wide dumping.

Versluis Lake is an about 50-acre man-made lake in Plainfield Township, separated from the Grand River by a narrow spit of land. Just across the river is the Boulder Creek Golf Club, once a gravel pit where toxic tannery waste was dumped decades ago.

Lake Margrethe is an about 1,920-acre lake in Crawford County, just west of Grayling, where PFAS contamination is under investigation in connection to the Camp Grayling Michigan National Guard base there.

The 138-mile-long Au Sable River runs through a large section of the Huron-Manistee National Forest in Northern Michigan, passing through the towns of Grayling and Mio before joining Lake Huron at the lakefront communities of Oscoda and Au Sable.

The Au Sable is a designated trout stream and popular among canoers, kayakers and nature lovers. In addition to passing by Camp Grayling, the river’s mouth is very near Wurtsmith Air Force Base, and is linked to Van Etten Lake that borders the base to the northeast.”

Read the full article by Mark Tower