PARCHMENT (WKZO AM/FM) — Tests have revealed PFAS in the Parchment Municipal Water System. Officials say contamination levels are at 20-times the level considered safe.
About 3,000 residents in Parchment and Cooper Township who are on the Parchment system are being advised to immediately stop ingesting the water. Free bottled water will be made available at Parchment High School from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm Friday.
Sheriff Richard Fuller says it will be staffed through the weekend and he says there is plenty to go around. Homeowners who need deliveries can call 567-7595 or 567-2517 if they can’t get to the distribution point.
This is not a situation where boiling the water will make it safer. It will in fact just increase the concentration of the contamminant, making it less safe.
The County activated its Emergency Response Center and work has already begun to drain and flush the Parchment Water System with water from Kalamazoo’s municipal water plant. The City of Kalamazoo has been testing for PFOS for five years and does not have a problem.
State Health Director Nick Lyon tells us the tests for PFAS have been conducted in larger systems for years. It was only recently ordered by the state on smaller municipal systems, and it was those tests that revealed that Parchment may have a problem.
Health officials have already ordered retesting to verify that the initial test was not a false positive, and to also gauge the extent of the contamination. Those results are expected Monday.
County Health Director Jim Rutherford says Parchment would be the first municipal system in the State to test positive for PFAS, but he says it’s lucky. The short term solution and the long term remedy is close by, just down Riverview Drive at the Kalamazoo City Water Reclamation Plant.
It could be the long term solution as well, depending on the source of the contamination and what local leaders ultimately decide to do. It may be possible to refit the Parchment faciliy to remove the contaminant.
For now they are focusing on emergency responses and short term fixes to secure a safe water source for those impacted.
Water system employees say the wells for the Parchment system are in Cooper Township, and everyone in Parchment is connected to the city system. But homeowners on private wells in Cooper Township may also need to have their water tested to determine if it is a problem for them.
Homeowners should stop using tap water for drinking, cooking and baby formula. Any ice made with tap water should be thrown out. It should not be used for pets or farm animals or for watering food gardens.
It can be safely used for watering lawns, laundry, washing dishes, cleaning, showering and baths.
Rutherford says once the system is drained and flushed, which could take 24 to 48 hours, if everything goes right, homeowners will be asked to flush their own systems and the tap water will be safe again.
Another news conference is anticipated later this morning. The situation continues to unfold but local officials say they have a plan, know what they are doing and are executing it with public health their primary priority.
