Businesses Discharging PFAS into Michigan's Waterways
Michigan businesses are discharging high levels of PFAS that move into the state's waterways on a daily basis.
An MLive investigation found that manufacturing sources are sending one version of the "forever chemicals" at up to 20,000 times the allowed amount into wastewater systems that discharge it into the state's lakes, rivers and, ultimately, threatening drinking water supplies for millions of people.
That comes as much of the state's focus for PFAS has been on former factories, military bases and fire-fighting foam - along with testing municipal drinking water sources around the state.
Dozens of documents obtained by MLive using the Freedom of Information Act show that state officials found 18 municipal wastewater treatment plants discharging excessive levels of PFOS. The chemical is one type of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that is prevalent in industry and the one with the most rigorous cleanup standard.
President Barack Obama drinks from a glass of water during a briefing on the Flint public health water crisis during a meeting with federal responders at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in Flint, Mich., May 4, 2016. The President is flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on the left and Gina McCarthy, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency. [Official White House Photo: Lawrence Jackson]
Treatment plants in Michigan are discharging chemicals at up to 20,000 times the allowed amount into the state's lakes and rivers, threatening drinking water supplies for millions of people, Paula Gardner and Garret Ellison report.