Public health

Michigan sets limit for chemical contaminants in water

Photo: Katy Batdorff / Special to Detroit News

Lansing — Amid growing concern over chemical contaminants in the state’s drinking water, Gov. Rick Snyder’s office on Tuesday adopted a threshold for when regulators can act against polluters. The new rule will require state remediation if residential or commercial drinking water is found to have per- and polyfluoroalkyl levels that meet or exceed 70 parts per trillion.

The substances, known collectively as PFAS, have been found in at least 14 communities across the state and have drawn extra scrutiny because of legacy pollution from a former chemical dumping site for footwear company Wolverine Worldwide north of Grand Rapids. The new action level mirrors federal guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is the first time the state has had any such threshold for PFAS .

Because the EPA guideline is only a recommendation for unsafe exposure levels, it’s difficult for states to hold companies responsible for any PFAS pollution, said Ari Adler, a spokesman for Snyder. “It’s harder to hold someone liable for something that there’s no action level for, it’s just an advisory,” Adler said. “We needed to set an action level. You have to have somewhere to […]

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

Summary
Article Name
Michigan sets limit for chemical contaminants in water
Description
Amid growing concern over chemical contaminants in state drinking water, Gov. Rick Snyder adopted a threshold for when regulators can act against polluters. The new rule will require state remediation if drinking water is found to have perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl levels that meet or exceed 70 parts per trillion.
Author
Publisher Name
The Detroit News
Publisher Logo

Recent Posts

World’s Fifth-Largest Economy Is About to Ban Most Polystyrene Foam

An expanded plastic foam coffee cup is at a donut shop in Monterey Park, California.…

2 days ago

Michael Fitzgerald: Worst. Invasive. Species. Ever.

Nutrias were first discovered in the marshes of San Joaquin County in 2017. (Photo courtesy…

3 days ago

Seawater Intrusion Threatens Salinas Valley: Crisis Inaction | Opinion

The Armstrong Ranch property, which occupies both sides of Highway 1, sits atop aquifers that…

1 week ago

Saltwater intrusion will taint 77% of coastal aquifers by century’s end, modeling study finds

Watersheds on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard will be among the areas most affected by underground…

3 weeks ago

A ‘Devil’ Seaweed Is Spreading Inside Hawaiʻi’s Most Protected Place

An invasive algae has wrecked huge sections of reef in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Scientists…

4 weeks ago

A meadow in the Tahoe National Forest was drying up with sagebrush. Now it’s a lush wetland.

Sardine Meadow is a key link in conservation efforts for the Sierra Nevada, north of…

1 month ago