In a growing trend, another 72 sites with PFAS contamination have been added to the latest list of Michigan sites. The newest Michigan EGLE PFAS Map Tracker shows that the number of confirmed PFAS contaminated sites has grown to 165, up from 93 in June 2020.
The latest list of PFAS contamination includes sites spread across Michigan, throughout both the lower and upper peninsulas, in rural, suburban, and urban areas. The EGLE also provides a PFAS map viewer, which provides information on the site name, location and address, description of the site, and a link to site-specific background, data, PFAS contaminants, site history, and recent activities. The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) maintains the site tracker of locations of confirmed detections of PFOA and PFOS in groundwater. MPART is an advisory group of EGLE.
The EGLE has recently added two sites as an Area of Interest being investigated for PFAS contamination, including:
East Bay Township in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County
Cascade Township Residential Wells, Cascade Township, Kent County
EGLE defines an Area of Interest as a site where an investigation is underway and no groundwater sample result has exceeded the Part 201 Cleanup Criteria for groundwater used as drinking water. These areas are being investigated because there is a nearby source. According to EGLE, Areas of Interests may include residential well sampling adjacent to a suspected source, or other sampling that may suggest or confirm a source of PFAS. If on-site sampling at an Area of Interest results in one or more groundwater sample exceeding the Part 201 Cleanup Criteria for groundwater used as drinking water, these locations will get moved to the Michigan PFAS sites page.
The EGLE’s number of 165 confirmed PFAS sites with groundwater contamination in Michigan, which continues to be the highest of any state according to data released by Northeastern University’s SSEHRI and the Environmental Working Group. Officials and scientists maintain that the number of confirmed sites in Michigan is attributed to the state taking a lead role in aggressively looking for PFAS contamination.
The number of PFAS contaminated sites in other states continues to grow at an alarming rate as well, as more states investigate the presence of the PFAS “forever chemicals.” As of January 2021, the EWG reported 2,337 sites across the United States are known to have PFAS contamination.
Merit Laboratories is a leading national PFAS environmental laboratory, analyzing drinking water, soil, wastewater, groundwater, and other sample matrices, including biosolids and sludge. Analytical methods performed by Merit for PFAS include drinking water by EPA 533, EPA 537.1, and EPA 537 rev. 1.1, biosolids by ASTM D7968-17 with Isotopic Dilution, and soil, wastewater, groundwater, and surface water by ASTM D7979-19 with Isotopic Dilution and ASTM D7968-17.