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Records: 2 pollutants found in 2 Michigan water supplies

Posted at 8:10 AM, Jul 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-28 08:10:21-04

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Records show pollutants that have been linked to health problems including cancer and childhood developmental issues have been found in public drinking water supplies for two Michigan communities.

MLive.com reports utilities serving Kent County’s Plainfield Township, near Grand Rapids, and the city of Ann Arbor reported perfluorooctane sulfonate, known as PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA, in raw and treated water.

So far, samples haven’t exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory guidelines for the chemicals. Officials are monitoring the water.

The source of the chemicals hasn’t been confirmed, but a closed landfill is suspected as the source in Plainfield Township. They’ve been traced to the township’s backup well field at Versluis Park. In Ann Arbor, they’re coming from the Barton Pond impoundment on the Huron River.