Two Michigan communities on do-not-drink water alert after PFAS contamination

Keith Matheny | Detroit Free Press

More than 3,100 residents of two Kalamazoo County communities have been advised to stop drinking or cooking with municipal water, after testing found a potentially health-harming chemical at more than 20 times the federal health advisory limit.

The city of Parchment issued a do-not-drink water alert late Thursday, after water testing showed sky-high levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality testing results showed PFAS levels in the muncipal water supply at 1,410 parts per trillion. The state and federal health advisory limit for the compound is 70 parts per trillion. The source of the contamination is not yet known.

The municipal water system serves 3,100 customers in Parchment and adjacent Cooper Township.

Boiling PFAS-contaminated water does not remove the compound, though the water is safe for showering, laundering clothes and flushing toilets, city officials said.

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Gov. Rick Snyder has directed the state departments of Environmental Quality, Health and Human Services and State Police, as well as the PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), to assist Parchment and Cooper Township in light of the water contamination finding. The state Emergency Operations Center has been activated to assist emergency operations as needed.

Bottled water was to be provided to affected residents beginning Friday at Parchment High School, 1916 E. G Ave., from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

High school football players work with police to hand out bottled water at Parchment High School in southwestern Michigan after PFAS contamination is detected in the municipal water supply. @wzzm13 pic.twitter.com/sCKioPuPEh — John Hogan (@JohnHoganWZZM) July 27, 2018

PFAS, once commonly used in fire-fighting foam, nonstick surfaces, stain guards and other commercial and industrial applications, is an emerging contaminant of concern, as it persists for long periods in the environment and can be harmful to human health.

According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, studies have shown certain PFAS may affect the growth, learning and behavior of infants and children; lower a woman's chance of getting pregnant; interfere with the body's natural hormones; increase cholesterol levels; affect the immune system and increase cancer risks. Laboratory animals exposed to high doses of one or more PFAS compounds have shown changes in liver, thyroid and pancreatic function.

The Kalamazoo County Health Department outlined on its website a short-term solution activated to address the water contamination. The city of Parchment's water supply system is being drained, and will then be connected to the city of Kalamazoo's municipal water supply. Residents will be notified once the system change occurs.

The city of Kalamazoo will then flush the Parchment municipal water system, and will continue doing so until PFAS levels are below the health advisory level.

"We do not know how long this process will take, but residents will not be connected back to the city of Parchment's water supply until it is approved," county health officials stated.

The water advisory left more questions than answers for area residents — with confusion and anxiety compounded when two hotline numbers provided by the county health department did not work. The department has since set up a new hotline to answer residents' questions: (269) 373-5346.

Ashleigh Koetje, 34, lives near the border of Parchment and Cooper Township with her husband and four children, ages 7 months to 12 years. The 7-month-old drinks bottled formula mixed with tap water, she said, and Ashleigh is pregnant with twins.

"I'm trying to drink more water than I normally do," she said.

"I'm not even sure I'm in the affected area. You can’t get through on those numbers they provided. What do I do?"

Nearby relatives and friends outside the affected area brought Koetje and her family gallons of water Friday morning.

Among Koetje's questions: How long has the chemical been in the water, and how long have they been drinking it?

"If I’ve been drinking this water that’s been tainted, what could happen to me?" she said. "What could happen to my baby, when that’s all he’s ever drank, all of his life? They’re not going into big enough detail."

Koetje said her neighbors have similar concerns.

"Everybody over this way is pretty freaked out," she said. "They’re all drinking bottled water."

Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, and state Rep. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, on Friday issued a joint statement blasting Snyder and his administration.

“There is a crisis happening in Kalamazoo County – an entire city’s water supply is being drained because PFAS has been discovered in it," Ananich and Brinks stated. "We are outraged that a report was kept under wraps for six years that would have warned Michigan citizens about what is now an epidemic across the state."

The lawmakers were apparently referencing a July 12 MLive.com report that a longtime DEQ employee gave a report to then-DEQ Director Dan Wyant in August 2012, warning about high PFAS levels in fish and in state waters, noting the contamination could be at many locations statewide, and urging a concerted, multi-agency response. The DEQ, however, instead moved incrementally over the next several years to issue fish advisories and conduct testing in local, known affected areas.

Snyder created the multi-agency PFAS Action Response Team, MPART, in November 2017, and the DEQ announced it would test 1,300 water systems statewide for PFAS in March 2018.

Ananich and Brinks called for oversight hearings of Snyder by the Legislature, alleging the DEQ report was "suppressed."

"We have to get to the bottom of this — no more excuses and no more lies," the lawmakers stated. "We need to be able to trust the water coming from our taps.”

Contact Keith Matheny: 313-222-5021 or kmatheny@freepress.com. Follow on Twitter @keithmatheny.