LANSING (WKZO AM/FM) — The MichiganPFAS Action Response Team, or MPART, has released its final count.
It was a first of its kind study ordered by former Governor Rick Snyder to check small drinking water systems for PFAS and PFOS contamination.
They tested water samples from 1,114 small community water systems, 461 schools on private wells and 17 tribal water systems.
90% of them were negative for PFAs and PFOS. 7% tested below 10 parts per trillion and 3% tested between 10 and 70 ppt.
The only sites they found that exceeded the 70 ppt federal standard for safety were the municipal water wells in Parchment and the wells at Robinson Elementary near Grand Haven.
Remediation is underway at both locations
Many other contamination sites have been discovered in Michigan that were not part of this study, near airports and industrial sites where the chemical compounds were used for a variety of things.
MPART is now testing water samples from day care centers for PFAS.
Governor Whitmer has made the agency a permanent advisory body and the DEQ has appointed Steve Silver, a veteran of the Department to be its Executive Director.
That could be good news for Parchment and Cooper Township residents impacted by the contamination. One of their tasks will be to focus on PFAS clean-ups.
(copy written by John McNeill)
