PFAS

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is holding three public hearings this month on its plans to set drinking water standards for chemicals known as PFAS.

The public hearings are a part of the state’s plan to establish drinking water standards, sampling requirements, public notification requirements, and laboratory certification criteria.

Good news for the city of Ann Arbor's drinking water - and the residents who drink it.

The city's Drinking Water Quality Manager, Sarah Page, says tests have detected no PFOS and PFOA compounds in the past five months.  PFOS and PFOA are two of the most worrisome PFAS compounds.

Wolverine Worldwide says it will pay nearly $70 million to build municipal water systems in two communities affected by PFAS contamination. 

The company used the chemicals to waterproof its shoes for years. The harmful chemicals contaminated the ground and entered into local wells.  The company says it will now pay to build the water systems to connect more than 1,000 properties to municipal water in Algoma and Plainfield Townships. It says the plan is part of a tentative agreement to resolve lawsuits involving the state and townships.

Congress has reached a final agreement on the annual national defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. This year’s bill includes a number of provisions to regulate the chemical family PFAS.

Researchers from the University of Michigan, Notre Dame University and Indiana University released a report that found West Michigan shoe-maker Wolverine Worldwide is still using pollutants known as PFAS in its products.

Wolverine has been getting a lot of press the past couple years, because it is a large source of PFAS contamination throughout northern Kent County.

The swirling liquid rushes into concrete channels behind a black chain-link fence.

“That is what sewage looks like,” says Nicole Pasch, who works in Environmental Services for the city of Grand Rapids.

Pasch is showing off the wastewater treatment facility, along with the various stages the sewage has to pass through before it can be sent back into the nearby Grand River, which flows into Lake Michigan.

Former Governor Rick Snyder stirred controversy when he appointed business and industry representatives to the Environmental Rules Review Committee (ERRC), a regulatory oversight board to oversee rulemaking within the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

Now, that board is slowing down the advancement of new drinking water standards that limit acceptable levels of chemicals from the PFAS family in Michigan’s drinking water.

U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) is urging the Department of Defense to replace PFAS-foam at military bases faster.

She sent a letter to the head of Pentagon PFAS Task Force, Assistant Secretary Robert McMahon, earlier this week.

The Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy sent draft rules that would limit PFAS contamination in drinking water to Governor Whitmer’s office Tuesday.

The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team approved the set of rules last Friday after months of gathering input from scientists, citizen groups, and businesses across the state.

A lab error is being blamed for a positive test for chemical contamination with a chemical in the PFAS family in the River Raisin watershed.

The federal government is launching a new study to examine the link between drinking water contaminated with industrial chemicals called PFAS and health outcomes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry announced the start of the health study this week.

The agencies are giving grants to several institutions around the country to study PFAS exposure.

With hunting season in Michigan beginning October 1, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services are reminding hunters about the “Do Not Eat” advisory for deer taken within 5 miles of Clark’s Marsh in Oscoda Township.

The advisory was originally issued in October of 2018, after venison was tested and found to have extremely high levels of PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid), the most common chemical in the PFAS family. 

The Home Depot announced Tuesday that it will stop buying from its suppliers any rugs and carpets that contain PFAS chemicals.

"Excluding PFAS from the carpets and rugs we sell is another example of our shared commitment to building a better future for our customers and the planet," Ron Jarvis, The Home Depot's vice president for environmental innovation, said in a written statement.

The state of Michigan has approved new funding to collect and dispose of PFAS-containing foam. The seven-month program will safely dispose of more than 30,000 gallons of class B aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).

Firefighters use the PFAS-containing foam to extinguish gasoline, oil, and jet fuel. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) gave US Ecology of Livonia the $1.4 million contact.

A report from the National Wildlife Federation report is urging state governors and lawmakers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York to take steps to address the growing issue of PFAS in the Great Lakes. The report says state action is crucial, as it is unclear as to whether a “divided Congress and ambivalent White House” will do enough to confront the problem. 

The state is retesting drinking water in several Southeast Michigan communities this week. That's after a recent test in the River Raisin watershed found extremely high levels of PFAS. This was at the intake area at the Deerfield water filtration plant.

Legislators in Lansing are introducing a series of bipartisan bills that would change the state’s emergency manager laws and require more testing for lead in drinking water.

One bill (SB 395) would require water tests at “vulnerable population centers” such as child care facilities, nursing homes and hospitals.

A new report finds PFAS contamination in about one in ten public water systems in Michigan.

PFAS compounds (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have been linked to serious health problems.  The chemicals were used in a variety of products, from firefighting foam to food packaging.

State officials are seeking members for a citizen advisory workgroup to advise the state on chemical contamination.

PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of chemicals that have been found across the state and are linked to health problems including cancer.

The Citizen Advisory Workgroup would work as a liaison between communities impacted by contamination and the state.

Michigan could be among the first states to regulate a chemical known as GenX. It’s one of seven members of the PFAS family of compounds named by the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team, or MPART, as potentially requiring a maximum contaminant level for drinking water.

Officials overseeing the former General Motors’ Buick City site in Flint have submitted a plan to the state to expand their investigation of PFAS contamination discharging into the Flint River.

PFAS has been linked to numerous public health issues. 

The city of Parchment, outside Kalamazoo, has lead in its drinking water. Officials say the lead exceeds a state action level, which is 15 parts per billion (ppb).

It’s a problem with Parchment's pipes. Last July the city switched to Kalamazoo’s water after chemicals known as PFAS were found in Parchment’s water supply. The new water caused lead service lines to leak the toxic metal into the drinking water.

Tests show the water from July to December of 2018 to be 16 ppb. In the first six months of 2019, it was 58 ppb.