PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Wolverine Worldwide will be providing whole house water filtration systems to hundreds of homes near Rockford that have been or are being tested for a toxic chemical found near a former company dump site.
The company announced Thursday it will cover the cost of water filter systems and customized installation for 338 Belmont-area homes being tested for PFOA and PFOS near Wolverine Worldwide’s old House Street NE dump. The chemical was used in Scotchgard, which Wolverine Worldwide used to waterproof shoes.
Every single one of the 338 homes in the study area established by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and an expanded precautionary buffer zone is eligible for a whole house water filtration system, according to Wolverine.
Test results on many of the homes in the study area and buffer zone are expected back in the coming weeks, according to Wolverine Worldwide. The company says all of the homes are eligible for the water filtration systems regardless of what tests find.
Wolverine Worldwide told 24 Hour News 8 each filtration system will cost the company approximately $5,000, bringing the total bill to about $1.6 million.
Wolverine Worldwide’s decision was welcomed by residents wary of their water.
“At this point, I don’t know if I’ll ever drink my water again without a whole house water filter, even if it has low levels,” said Laurie Chappell, who is waiting on test results.
PFOS has been linked to certain cancers, as well as pregnancy complications and childhood development problems, among other things. The Kent County Health Department is conducting its largest ever cancer cluster study around the House Street site and two other possible Wolverine dumps in the Rockford area.
The company previously provided bottled water and kitchen water filters to 13 homes where tests for the toxic chemical came back above federal safety guidelines.
>>Inside woodtv.com: Complete coverage of the toxic tap water investigation
LEATHER FOUND AT ILLEGAL DUMP
Also Thursday, crews worked all morning to clean up a separate, illegal dump site on House Street. Two dumpsters were filled with old barrels and leather scraps.
The site is on Michigan Department of Transportation land across the street from where Wolverine Worldwide was legally dumping.
Last month, Target 8 found barrels on the property and had them tested at a local lab. The results showed high levels of chromium. A Grand Valley State University professor told Target 8 that’s used in tanneries.
The DEQ, which is overseeing the cleanup, said it could take up to seven days to complete. Crews won’t stop until the land is back to its natural state.
It’s still unclear if Wolverine Worldwide could be fined for the illegal dump.
TESTING FOR TOXIC TAP WATER
Word about the home filtration systems came a day after Target 8 learned PFOS was found in groundwater nearly 1.5 miles away from the legal House Street dump site, where Wolverine Worldwide disposed of sludge from its Rockford tannery until about 1970.
Professor Richard Rediske, of GVSU’s Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, said the new findings show the plume of contamination is major and that Wolverine Worldwide should expand the testing area. The footwear company stated Wednesday it was talking with the DEQ about whether to expand the testing area, but that decision had not yet been made.