Public health

Michigan Faces Another Toxic Water Crisis

Now Its Governor Wants a Chemical Company to Pay

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has asked the state attorney general to sue chemical giant 3M, suggesting that the company must pay for making toxic chemicals that wound up in the drinking water. Towns across America are coming to grips with an alarming new source of water contamination: a common class of chemicals, called PFAS, implicated in long-term health effects.

In Michigan, where the Flint lead crisis is still making headlines, more than 30 sites have detectable levels of PFAS in the water and soil. Two chemicals in this family, PFOA and PFOS, are linked to heart disease, thyroid disease, and cancer, and are thought to make vaccines less effective in kids. PFAS chemicals are used in coatings that make products water-resistant — like on Teflon cookware, Gore-Tex fabric, and 3M’s Scotchgard — and 3M is among the companies whose technology made the toxic compounds so common. The Minnesota-based company also makes firefighting foams that are used at military sites and airports, and leach PFAS compounds into the environment.

In pushing to sue 3M, Gov. Snyder appears to be trying to get in front of another potential health crisis with Michigan in the spotlight. “It is generally understood 3M was […]

More about: forever chemicals (PFAS, etc.), pollution, and public health

Summary
Article Name
Michigan Faces Another Toxic Water Crisis
Description
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has asked state attorney general to sue chemical giant 3M to pay for its toxic chemicals that wound up in the drinking water.
Author

Recent Posts

Scathing report released detailing Navy’s handling of Red Hill fuel spill

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the…

6 days ago

Growing Food Instead of Grass Lawns in California Front Yards

Photo: Morgan Boone, a volunteer with Crop Swap LA, harvested lettuce at the La Salle…

2 weeks ago

LA River restoration connects us back to ‘the life force of our city’

Los Angeles residents at a section of the Los Angeles River cleanup in Los Angeles,…

3 weeks ago

LAist: New study raises questions about heavy metals in fire retardants

Over the past decade, about 67 million gallons of fire retardant have been dropped on…

3 weeks ago

Meadow and watershed restoration in the Golden Trout Wilderness

Photo: Golden Trout Wilderness Seeking blue, seeing gold The Kern Plateau features a chain of…

3 weeks ago

First sighting of salmon in 100 years marks key milestone for California dam removal

For the first time in more than a century, a salmon was observed swimming through Klamath…

4 weeks ago