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City of Allegan taking ‘proactive’ approach against water contamination

Posted at 8:39 PM, Mar 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-13 20:47:46-04

ALLEGAN, Mich. -- As Plainfield Township leaders struggle to find a solution to contaminated water, another city's leader is taking steps to avoid making the same mistakes.

Allegan City Manager Joel Dye says the city will spend roughly $3,000 to test for PFAS in its municipal water system. The chemical has been linked to cancer and has been found at high levels in Rockford and Plainfield Township, likely connected to decades of dumping by Wolverine Worldwide and other companies.

Though Allegan city leaders don't have any specific concerns of activity that may have contaminated its water, Dye says it's better to be safe than sorry.

“The community is what we need to protect," Dye tells FOX 17. “We’re just trying to be proactive. I don’t want to use the words ‘Getting out in front,’ but just, you know, do kind of a gut check. Where are we in Allegan?”

Allegan's municipal water system pumps roughly one million gallons per day to about 1,900 homes and businesses.

“We’re an independent system," Dye says. "Our water is source from an aquifer about 80 feet below ground level. We do not receive any water from the Kalamazoo River, so we’re comfortable that our water is safe. We just want to make sure it continues being safe.”

Dye says the city's goal is to send water samples to a laboratory with Pace Analytical in the next month or two. He says the results will be made public as soon as they are available.