BELMONT, MI -- Unsafe levels of hazardous chemicals from a decades-old Wolverine World Wide dump site near Belmont have been confirmed in private residential drinking water wells in an expanded testing area southeast of U.S. 131.

Multiple properties on Chandler Drive NE are testing positive for high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances called PFAS, (also called perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs), a class of unregulated toxicants polluting the groundwater near Wolverine's old dump at 1855 House Street NE in Plainfield Township.

Chandler Drive is south of the dump site, straddling a divide between the Grand River and Rogue River watersheds. The polluted wells are roughly a half mile away. One well tested 142 times above a federal benchmark for PFAS in drinking water.

"We were kind of expecting it," said Jennifer Carney, who lives on the 7500 block of Chandler with her husband and two kids, ages 7 and 14. "We're right in the line of fire."

Her home is one of four testing above the Environmental Protection Agency's dual health advisory level of 70 parts-per-trillion (ppt) for perfluoroctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA), two of several PFAS compounds leaving the dump.

Carney's home tested at 147-ppt, but other residents and officials say the confirmed PFAS range on Chandler Drive is between 120 and 10,000-ppt combined PFOS and PFOA.

Test results were delivered verbally by the Kent County Health Department on Friday, Oct. 6. Detailed, formal results are being mailed this week, Carney said.

The street is part of an expanded testing perimeter around the dump, where Wolverine disposed of waste sludge from its former tannery in Rockford in the 1960s.

Sludge was put directly into the ground and covered with dirt, according to documents and accounts of former disposal truck drivers. The chemicals were in Scotchgard, which Wolverine used to waterproof Hush Puppies shoes in Rockford.

Residents next to the dump site are reporting thyroid issues, cancer and other symptoms consistent with PFAS exposure.

The Kent County Health Department is studying cancer clusters near House Street and other known and suspected Wolverine tannery sludge dumps around the area.

Carney, 38, began suffering neurological issues like limb numbness and vision problems a year and a half ago. Doctors haven't been able to pinpoint a cause. She questions whether her symptoms are caused by exposure to one or more PFAS compounds. Her family moved to Chandler Drive from Rockford seven years ago.

Other PFAS compounds besides PFOS and PFOA showing up at various levels in House Street wells include pentafluorobenzoic acid (PFBA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluoronpentanoic acid (PFPeA), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS).

Christina Bush, a toxicologist for the state of Michigan, said during a meeting at Rockford High School about the pollution last month that because PFAS are considered "emerging" contaminants of concern, there's still much study to be done on their health effects.

"This is probably the way it began for the chemicals we do know about these days," Bush said. "We didn't know much about PCBs, but as we learned, we built up stronger scientific understanding so we could take whatever action is necessary to protect public health."

Carney said she's worried about her neighbors directly across the street. One asked her this weekend if their household should be drinking bottled water.

Homes on the north side of Chandler west of Herrington Ave. NW were part of an initial round of PFAS sampling, but lots on the south side were only added to a "buffer zone" of testing in a ring around the dump site that began in late September. Those 230 homes may get results back later this month or November.

She thinks officials with Plainfield Township should be communicating with homes on private well water which are believed to be in danger.

"These people are not getting the communication they should be getting," Carney said. "They are directly across the street."

Plainfield Township is designing a new water main route that would bring municipal water to House Street, Herrington Avenue and Chandler Drive. Officials say the estimated $4 million utility expansion may only be constructed if enough wells are polluted.

Wolverine's environmental consultant, Rose & Westra, contacted Carney to say that Wolverine would pay for a Culligan drinking water system as a precursor to putting the home on whole-house filtration.

"I'm curious to see what system they are going to provide us," she said.

In a statement, Wolverine said it is now "providing whole-house water filtration systems to homeowners whose wells have tested over the EPA-advisory level for drinking water."