(WT-shared) Haem85 at wts Wikivoyage | Ships in the Grand Traverse Bay West Arm, in front of the Traverse City waterfront | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TraverseCity-MI-waterfront.jpg | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Water wells were tested in Traverse County, Michigan between November and December 2020, 9 of 18 wells tested positive for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The highest levels returned at 1,300 parts per trillion, which is over the Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion. On October 19 and 20, 2020, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) mailed 30 residents of the Pine Grove neighborhood letters explaining that their private wells may be contaminated with PFAS.
The source of the PFAS contamination was traced back to firefighting foam used at both the Cherry Capital Airport and the United States Coast Guard Air Station since the 1970s. On February 19, 2020, public records show a letter from EGLE to the manager of Cherry Capitol Airport, a contributor to the contamination, stating that 20 residential wells north of the airport may be at risk of PFAS contamination. The letter included a map of these potential properties.
Some residents in Traverse City are frustrated with the communications regarding the “forever chemicals” in the water supply. EGLE waited eight months before officially notifying those potentially affected. Residents are upset that they were not notified sooner of the potential contamination so that they could take the necessary precautions. Health officials have said that the delay in information was due to a lack of facts or evidence. They needed to know the brevity of the situation to provide the public with accurate recommendations.
The Grand Traverse County Health Department started providing bottled water to affected residents on October 19, 2020. On March 1, 2021, work began to connect Traverse City residents with PFAS-contaminated well water to municipal water lines.