Read the full article by Brandon Schreur (The Daily News)
“STANTON — New guidelines from the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) have put Central Montcalm Public School in a position where they’re now looking to drill a replacement drinking water well.
In 2018, the state of Michigan passed legislation mandating that all schools connected to private wells must have their water sources tested for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
On July 13, 2018, Central Montcalm Middle and High School’s drinking water well’s test came back at 19 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane (PFOS) and 64 total tested PFAS.
According to data.michigan.gov, a second test was done on Aug. 17, 2018, that came back at 27 ppt for PFOA and PFOS and 79 total tested PFAS. A third test on Sept. 14, 2018, showed 31 ppt for PFOA and PFOS and 91 total tested PFAS.
At the time, the health advisory criteria for both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) was 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, meaning the school was below the maximum limits for all three tests.
‘In August of 2018, we were first notified that PFAS was detected in the school drinking water at the middle and high school, although it was below the health advisory,’ Central Montcalm Superintendent Amy Meinhardt told the Daily News. ‘We sent letters notifying parents of the detection. We have installed filters on all our drinking fountains.’
On Aug. 3, 2020, MPART (which includes members from EGLE, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and several other state agencies) updated their PFAS investigation guidelines and clean-up efforts across the state. Under the new drinking water standards, the maximum containment level for PFOA is eight ppt and the maximum containment level for PFOS is 16 ppt…”