FROM WOOD TV 8:
ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) — Rockford Public Schools is shutting down drinking water fountains in one of its schools in light of recent tests revealing a toxic chemical in nearby wells.
In a letter sent to parents Thursday morning, Superintendent Michael Shibler said the district was disabling all drinking fountains in East Rockford Middle School “out of an abundance of caution.” Shibler said Wolverine Worldwide will be providing bottled water to students starting Thursday morning.
Shibler said the bottled water will also be used for cooking inside the school building until the district knows the status of its well water.
The superintendent said a former Wolverine Worldwide containing leather and rubber scraps was recently discovered between 9 Mile and 10 Mile roads, about a half-mile northeast of East Rockford Middle School.
The dump site is separate from Wolverine Worldwide’s old House Street NE dump, where the company discarded sludge from its Rockford tannery until about 1970. Earlier tests found high levels of PFOS in wells near the House Street dump — one at 38,000 parts per trillion, 542 times the EPA limit.
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