Read the full article by Justine McGuire
“ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, MI – Testing for toxic PFAS chemicals will begin this week in areas surrounding a Grand Haven school where the drinking water tested positive for levels well above what’s considered acceptable for human health.
Officials are unsure of the contamination source at Robinson Elementary School in Ottawa County. Additional testing in the area, including private wells, could lead to answers…
In the coming weeks, wells on 25 properties north and northeast of the school will be tested for PFAS, she said. Results will be available about three weeks after samples are turned in to the lab.
In addition to retesting the school well on Oct. 29, the DEQ tested two nearby sites, said Kristina Weighmink, spoksewoman for the Ottawa County Department of Public Health.
The Robinson Township fire station and a nearby day care were found to have low to moderate amounts of PFAS in the drinking water.
Confirmation testing at the school found two individual PFAS chemicals, PFOS and PFOA, at a combined level of 119 parts per trillion (ppt) in the water, Weighmink announced Wednesday, Oct. 31, during a press conference.
Total PFAS was found at 171-ppt.
The numbers are higher than what was found in the first sample, which was taken in September. That sample found PFOS and PFOA of 110-ppt and Total PFAS of 144-ppt, which was announced on Oct. 29.
The Robinson Township fire station drinking water sample include PFOS and PFOA of 5-ppt and Total PFAS of 7-ppt, Weighmink said. The day care sample shows PFOS and PFOA of 4-ppt and Total PFAS of 32-ppt.
At the fire station and day care, the detected PFOS and PFOA levels are below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency health advisory level of 70-ppt for those two compounds. The school continues to show levels well above that level…
The school remains open and was immediately switched to bottled water, said Superintendent Andrew Ingall. Six hundred bottles were quickly delivered by district administration and another 33,000 were delivered later through the local health department.
With about 300 preschool through fourth grade students and about 30 staff members at the school, Ingall estimates the water could last about 50 days.”