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BELMONT, MI — Another 200 Plainfield Township homes are being tested in an expanding investigation into drinking water pollution around a former Wolverine World Wide tannery sludge dump.
Wolverine’s consultant, Rose & Westra, is contacting homeowners this week in a "buffer zone" area around the dump site at 1855 House Street NE to sample private wells for hazardous chemicals leaching through the groundwater near the property.
The so-called buffer zone expands on an initial study area of 70 homes around the dump site; the test results for which are expected to start returning in mid-October.
The DEQ is overseeing Wolverine’s investigation into groundwater contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances called PFAS, (also called perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs), which Wolverine used at its former tannery in Rockford to waterproof leather for shoe manufacturing.
In the 1960s, the company dumped chemical-laden sludge on House Street in unlined trenches, storage ponds and lagoons.
"The results and investigation to-date do not indicate that homes, like yours, located within the buffer zone have been impacted or need to be sampled, but to help residents and respond to their concerns, Wolverine is voluntarily offering to sample your well for PFAS, and to provide you with bottled water while waiting for your results," the Sept. 22 letter reads.
On Sept. 12, concerned residents packed the Rockford High School auditorium to question Wolverine, the DEQ, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services and the Kent County Health Department about the pollution and possible health impacts.
The county is hosting a website on the investigation.
According to state documents, Wolverine also dumped tannery waste at the State Disposal Landfill along the East Beltline in Plainfield Township, which the DEQ is investigating as a source of PFAS pollution in township utility drinking water.