RICHLAND TOWNSHIP (WKZO AM/FM) — The Kalamazoo County Health Department is expanding the testing zone for the PFAS contamination plume near Richland.
They have identified the old Production Plated Plastics facility as the potential source of the toxic chemical and have already gotten a grasp of how its impacted homes immediately to the east of the plant site.
They suspect however that it has traveled beyond that initial testing zone.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Mark Ducharme says the new samples will help them determine just how far, and in what directions it has spread.
The homes they have specifically selected for testing will be approached by trained samplers from MDEQ and their contractor. If no one is home, they will leave a door hanger and asked to be contacted later.
Test results will take about a month, and shared privately with the homeowners.
In addition, test results are back on 102 of the private drinking water wells from the Parchment and Cooper Township contamination zone and the Department of Environmental Quality is evaluating the results.
They say they don’t plan to release the results of those tests to protect the privacy of the residents.
The homeowners will be notified individually with the results.
County Health Director Jim Rutherford says if the tests show the water is not safe to drink, they will then work directly with those residents on their options.
For some it could mean hooking up to city water if it’s available.
Over time the contamination may deteriorate or dilute, but there is no way to remove it from the soil once it’s there.
They say until the homeowners are contacted, they are advised to stay on the bottled water, as well as all those homeowners who have not been tested and who live in the identified contamination zone.
