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Wolverine planning to intercept contaminated water

Posted at 10:49 PM, Jun 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-06 22:51:09-04

ROCKFORD, Mich. —  Wolverine World Wide hopes it can reduce levels of toxic chemicals detected recently in foam in one location on the Rogue River.

The Rockford-based footwear manufacturer says on its blog website it’s been developing a plan over “the past several months” to intercept and treat groundwater from a formery Tannery site where PFOA/PFOS has been found. PFOS stands for Perfluorooctanessulfonate, a global pollulatant. PFAS is a group of man-made chemicals.

The PFAS was detected in high levels in a foam sample obtained in April, leading to a public advisory from health officials Tuesday that people should be careful not to accidentally get the foam in their mouths, if they’re boating or fishing in the river, for example. The foam is downstream from the tannery site.

Wolverine says on its blog site:

“While additional testing will be conducted and sources of PFOS in the river and foam are still being identified, we are doing our part to address it. Wolverine expects that the interception and treatment of groundwater at the former Tannery site will help reduce PFOS levels in this foam.”

Wolverine says additional water and foam testing will be done to identify potential sources of PFOA/PFOS. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has been working with Wolverine in monitoring the situation.