MPART declares new PFAS contamination site near Grand River

WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team has declared a new area of interest adjacent to the Grand River in Kent County.

On Monday, MPART, confirmed that the agency is investigating PFAS contamination at the former New Era Properties site on Wilson Avenue. The property borders the Grand River and sits across M-11 from Johnson Park.

Previously, the property was included in a separate investigation of Fenske Landfills, Inc. , which operates out of Tallmadge Township.

The landfill accepted liquid industrial waste from 1967 until some time in the 1970s when new waste regulations were passed. Metal hydroxide plating sludges were also stored at the site. The waste pile achieved “clean closure” in June 2007, but given the property’s history with industrial waste, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy started sampling groundwater in July 2021.

According to MPART, the highest test results showed measurements of PFOS — perfluorooctane sulfonic acid — at 91 parts per trillion. Michigan’s maximum contaminant level for safe drinking water is 16 ppt.

Landfill leachate indirectly sampled through a gas vent well in 2021 also found traces of PFAS.

Groundwater from the property flows toward the Grand River, however, groundwater in between the landfill and the river have yet to be tested. MPART says more sampling will “determine if the groundwater venting to the Grand River is contaminated.”

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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