Heavy PFAS contamination found near Paw Paw River

WATERVLIET, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team has identified another PFAS-contaminated site in Southwest Michigan, this time along the Paw Paw River.

Two locations near the Paw Paw Lake Area Wastewater Treatment Plant have been found with levels of PFAS that far exceed state safety standards.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy triggered an investigation after testing at the plant showed elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate — commonly known as PFOS, one of the most common forms of PFAS.

Investigators found two likely sources of the contamination: old irrigation fields north of the Red Arrow Highway that were once used by a paper company and a sewer line from an old paper mill that discharges directly to the plant.

“A lift station near the irrigation fields had 420 parts per trillion of PFOS and 800 ppt of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid),” MPART said in a statement . “The sewer line near the paper mill had 4,200 ppt PFOA and 870 ppt PFOS.”

The water quality safety standards are 16 ppt for PFOS and 8 ppt for PFOA.

MPART confirmed that groundwater from both locations flows toward the Paw Paw River.

EGLE has been working with the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services and local health officials to test residential wells in the area and determine its testing range.

PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a large group of compounds first developed in the 1940s and incorporated into all sorts of products for waterproofing and heat resistance. Decades later, research showed that PFAS compounds take a long time to break down organically and can build up in the human body, causing serious health problems including cancer. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Services , there are more than 15,000 known PFAS compounds.

The Environmental Working Group says there are now more than 5,000 confirmed PFAS-contaminated sites across the United States, including at least one in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and two American territories.

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