ROCKFORD, Mich.-- Mike LeBaron owns one of two plots of land in rural Grattan Township that are known by neighbors as the "Armstrong site." He recently noticed some 55-gallon drums by some trees on his property and had the MDEQ come out to inspect. Turns out, the state was already familiar with Armstrong, also identified as "sites 59 and 60."
LeBaron and his family have always lived near landfills in northern Kent County. Now, they're concerned it's possibly had a detrimental impact on their health. LeBaron lost his sister to pancreatic cancer when she was just 44-years-old. He says the doctors believed it was genetic but according to LeBaron, his family has no history of pancreatic cancer.
“I just assumed that it was God’s will," LeBaron tells FOX 17. "Now after doing research, I don’t think so anymore.”
LeBaron and his family lived near the House Street site from 1968 to 1972. From there, they moved to a home located a half-mile from Boulder Creek.
“We kind of followed the contamination right along without ever realizing it," LeBaron says.
When LeBaron and his wife purchased land on the Armstrong site, they never thought their bad luck would continue. Since that MDEQ visit in November, inspectors have not returned, according to LeBaron.
“I was under the impression they just didn’t have funding or their priorities didn’t really include site 59 or 60 at this point," LeBaron says. “They kind of intimated that the priority seemed to be mostly focused on PFAS only and they were only interested in House Street.”
According to the MDEQ, the department doesn't know much about the Armstrong site.
"We think that it was an old farm dump," MDEQ District Supervisor Abigail Hendershott tells FOX 17. "Most of the information we do have has come from the county health department files and so at this point, we don’t have a lot of information.”
Hendershott says an initial walk-over has been done at the site.
"We’re trying to figure out if we’ve got the resources and staff time to get out and do some additional work out there," Hendershott says.
What that would entail, according to Hendershott, is premature to say. However, in an email to LeBaron from an MDEQ geologist, the next step is drilling about six temporary wells both on the site and for residential wells. Soon after that email was sent, that geologist told LeBaron he would be leaving the project due to "circumstances out of my control."
According to the MDEQ, that geologist continued to work "under an alternative schedule."
“People are concerned about what’s coming out of their tap water, more than ever before," says Ann Marie Hertl with the League of Conservation Voters.
The league is starting to work with concerned residents in Plainfield and Grattan Townships to advocate a solution to lawmakers.
“We see business getting done, economy is doing well, GDP is growing, Michigan citizens are being left behind on the local contamination and water crisis basis," Government Affairs Director Nick Occhipinti tells FOX 17.
According to the MDEQ, there currently is no timeline for the Armstrong site to be addressed.
As the property owner, LeBaron says he would have to give permission for any testing or sampling to occur and that he would be happy to facilitate that process.
