“KALAMAZOO, MI — Tests of 15 water pumping stations serving the Kalamazoo municipal drinking water system found results under a federal health advisory for contaminants PFOA and PFOS.
According to a Monday, July 30 letter from the Department of Environmental Quality, PFOS and PFOA was found between 2 parts per trillion and 19 ppt in three stations and did not detect any level at 12 pumping stations. State officials said the results do not indicate a public health concern…
Other PFAS compounds were found in two additional Kalamazoo pumping stations. Total PFAS was found at 2 ppt, 3 ppt, 6 ppt, 69 ppt and 72 ppt in the five stations.
The EPA does not have regulations for total levels of PFAS compounds. It only has an unenforceable advisory level that covers PFOS and PFOA.
The results come at an important time, as the city of Parchment began hooking up its water system to Kalamazoo Tuesday. Kalamazoo will supply clean water as an ‘interim’ solution to the Parchment groundwater wells being highly contaminated with PFAS.
Starting Tuesday, July 31, G Avenue from Mount Olivet to North Riverview Drive will be intermittently closed for a water main extension project. It will connect the two water systems, allowing Parchment’s system to be fed by Kalamazoo’s drinking water supply.
Kalamazoo City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said Parchment and Cooper Township residents will be asked to flush their residential pipes when the connection is made later this week. Kalamazoo will eventually provide clean water to the area.
Residents on bottled water can’t drink from the tap just yet. Additional samples are being taken to determine if Parchment’s water system is free of PFAS.
It’s not clear how soon people on Parchment’s water system will have access to safe water…
Those using Parchment’s municipal water supply were told late Thursday, July 26, to immediately stop drinking the water after high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances were discovered in the municipal water source.
In Kalamazoo’s recent testing, samples were taken on June 15 where water enters the station, so results may not show what could be found in treated drinking water…
All baseload stations, which typically daily to provide water to customers, revealed no detection of PFOA/PFOS.
The three stations at which low levels were detected are at station only used when there is a high demand for water…
Adequacy of the 70-ppt benchmark has been the subject of substantial debate, with regulators and polluters generally loathe to endorse lower levels and public health advocates pointing to new studies calling its effectiveness into question…
Earlier this year, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality requested wastewater treatment plants across the state investigate potential sources PFAS. A third-party study commissioned by the city found 20 industrial sites were dumping the contaminants into its wastewater system.”
Read the full article by Malachi Barrett