UPDATE: This story now includes a statement from Ford regarding the plume.

LIVONIA - Robert and Susan McCall spent the last 24 years raising their kids in a cozy but sprawling blue home at the end of Beacon Street in Livonia.

In the backyard is a large swimming pool and a garden where Susan grows fruit for jams. Surrounding them is 13 acres of woods, complete with trails and other amenities that makes their home a sort of folksy paradise.

"We've done a lot of work on this house," Robert McCall said.

"We've added on to it three times since we've been here. We bike and used it for haunted house parties on Halloween when the kids were small."

It was practically perfect.

That changed in 2016, when the McCalls and other neighbors were notified by Ford Motor Co. that their houses sit directly in the path of an underground plume of toxic, cancer-causing chemicals.

Ford believes the pool has been there for decades and is migrating to the surrounding neighborhoods - unknown to residents who now live near a site that poses serious risks to human health.

Now, the McCalls and 128 of their neighbors are suing Ford for damages in Wayne County Circuit Court.

The group filed the lawsuit Wednesday, and most of the plaintiffs, along with lawyers from the Collins Law Firm, gathered for a press conference at the Beacon Street home of Bruce Tenniswood and Donna Coppola hours later.

Tenniswood said he and his neighbors harbor no ill will toward Ford. The plaintiffs don't even care about money, he added.

They just want their "homes and health protected."

"We are hoping that they'll do what they say they're going to do, and we sincerely want our neighborhood cleaned up," Tenniswood said.

"It's only fair to be compensated for the damage that's been done to our homes and property values."

A toxic pool

The chemicals in question - vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene - are in the soil and shallow ground water, the lawsuit alleges. It may also be evaporating into the air.

The McCalls believe they've been exposed to both chemicals.

"The haven't been using it since the 1980s, so yeah, we're probably exposed, especially back there," said Robert McCall, pointing to his pool and that mass of woods on lining this homestead.

The automaker became aware of the plume in 2014, when it started renovating the Livonia Transmission Plant. The plant and its satellite buildings are located less than a mile away from Beacon Street.

But Ford waited another two years before telling residents living in Alden Village about the hazardous material and associated health risks.

They started to pull soil and groundwater samples, but didn't test on the McCall's property.

"Early on, they didn't even test our land because they knew it was already here," McCall said.

Holding polluters accountable

Ford has acknowledged the plume, quickly settling a July lawsuit filed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, agreeing to monitor the pollution and pay $45,000 in fees to the state for chemical testing and other services.

In the new lawsuit, residents seek:

Monetary damages to compensate for the decline in home values due to pollution and possible health costs should they arise.

Chemical vapor mitigation systems in neighborhood homes - paid by Ford in full.

Other neighborhood protections to prevent the plume from leeching into their homes.

MDEQ sued Ford on July 21 and settled days later. Tenniswood said MDEQ jumped into action because he and other residents were threatening their own federal lawsuit.

The group sent a letter to the court requesting a full investigation and a clean-up.

They did so under the power of an obscure law that lets citizens hold polluters accountable for their actions if an appropriate government agency - in this case, the MDEQ - fails to act on their behalf, said attorney Norman Berger.

The firm's founder, Shawn Collins, said the new filing in state court is one small way to hold Ford accountable.

But his clients remain skeptical of Ford's commitment to a full investigation of a mess they helped create.

Nest eggs broken

The McCalls and Tenniswood said their homes were their nest eggs - an investment they hoped to leave to their kids.

Now, if they want to sell, the owners will have to notify potential buyers about the plume and the risks of living in a once-pristine neighborhood.

"We have no way of hiding it, and we wouldn't," Susan McCall said.

"You know what you know, so you don't want to not disclose it to people, especially with kids."

Early tests indicated that 1,000-plus micro-grams of both chemicals were found in the neighborhood's groundwater, Berger said.

They are classified as carcinogens, and vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene can in some cases cause Scleroderma and Raynaud's disease, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease affecting the skin. Raynaud's causes a person's extremities to go numb or cold in response temperature changes.

Residents allege that both ailments are present in the neighborhood at higher than average rates.

Collins said he was wary of drawing a specific link to those cases in the lawsuit, but was investigating whether the plume could be to blame.

Vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene were typically used as degreasing agents to clean machine parts.

They were also used by workers to wash their hands - something Robert McCall did routinely when he worked at the plant during the late 1970s.

He acknowledged that he could be at risk of diseases as a result of years of direct exposure.

"I'm not sick yet," he said. "But I know a lot of people who are, displaying symptoms for certain things."

John Cangany, a representative with Ford's Coroprate Social Responsibility Communications department, said Ford "remains fully committed to protecting the environment."

"All community samples collected to date show no health risk to residents or drinking water. When we discovered the issue, we promptly alerted the MDEQ and the plant's neighbors," Cangany said.

"Since then, we have actively worked with the MDEQ and investigated the potential for groundwater contamination, culminating in our settlement with the State of Michigan in July that includes plans for addressing the neighborhood and continued public outreach.

"Throughout this process, we have worked quickly and cooperatively with the state and community to keep everyone fully informed of our progress."

The company also responded to neighborhood concerns in 2015 by creating a website for what they called the "Ford Livonia Boston Beacon Project."

The website updates residents and businesses with groundwater sample testing results, monitoring processes and an FAQ section.

It's latest update was posted on July 25, days after reaching the court settlement with the MDEQ.

"We will continue our work to address the issue," the company said.

"Importantly, all samples collected today show: no health risk to residents, and no impact on your home's drinking water."