PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Families who live a half-mile south of an old Wolverine Worldwide dump site in Belmont told Target 8 they were notified Saturday that dangerously high levels of a toxin were found in their wells.
The tests revealed what state and county health officials had feared: That the plume of pollution has spread well beyond the dump, crossing US-131.
Neighbors on the north side of Chandler Drive NE, a half-mile south of Wolverine’s long-defunct House Street dump, said they’re worried because they’ve been drinking the water for years.
“I felt like crying,” said Seth McNaughton, who lives on the north side of Chandler. “I’m worried about our son’s development and his health, mainly. I really want him to be healthy and safe, so I’m very concerned with his future.”
He says he and three neighbors — four homes in a row on Chandler — got the word from a Kent County Health Department official.
“They said that our levels were high and very unsafe,” McNaughton said. “She felt sorry for us.”
Neighbors said levels of the chemical PFOS at the four homes on the north side of Chandler ranged from 124 parts per trillion to about 10,000 parts per trillion — 140 times the EPA’s advisory limit of 70.
McNaughton said his level was about 2,000 parts per trillion, about 30 times the EPA limit.
Kent County Health Department spokesman Steve Kelso confirmed that a health official spoke to the residents Saturday about test results. He said the department could not release further details.
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