“The City of Plainwell proactively tested for PFAS in three wells and found a low level in a back up well that supplies 5 percent of the drinking water. That well has been shut down and water customers were notified in a letter by city manager Erik Wilson on April 13.
A secondary test was taken to corroborate the finding, but results aren’t back yet. The well, on the west side of the city, tested for 22.9 parts per trillion. This level is three times below the EPA and MDEQ standard of 70 parts per trillion. The other two well had no detections. These wells provide 95 percent of Plainwell’s drinking water.
‘The back up well is not vital to the system,’ Wilson said. ‘We’ll work with the DEQ for the next steps with the drinking water the primary focus.’
The testing was stepped up by the city to put residents‘ minds at ease following concerns in Plainfield Township, where a Wolverine World Wide PFAS investigation discovered contaminated wells near the company’s old sludge waste dump. It has since been detected in Algoma Township and the city of Rockford…
With 3,000 PFAS compounds in use today, only six are currently listed on the EPA watch list and only two with a health advisory risk level.
In Otsego, where a group of citizens are concerned that cancers are being caused from the environment, wells have been tested and the city is awaiting results. That testing was part of a 3-year drinking water monitoring schedule, which has consistently met or exceeded water quality standards. While this testing does not include PFAS, due to concerns by residents, dioxide testing was added to the schedule, which hasn’t been tested in 10 years, said city manager Aaron Mitchell. The results of those tests won’t be available for a few weeks.”
Read the full article by Virginia Ransbottom