PARCHMENT, Mich. (WOOD) — Kalamazoo County authorities are reminding Parchment and Cooper Township residents to ask to see the state-issued ID badges of people who show up at their homes to test their water for PFAS.
On Thursday, officials provided a photo of what Michigan Department of Environmental Quality contractor badges look like.
Authorities said that if people claiming to be testing water do not have legitimate DEQ contractor badges, residents should not let them in and should call 911.
As of Thursday, 71 wells had been tested, though results weren’t yet back for any of those.
The source of the contamination has not yet been confirmed, but officials are focusing in on the old Crown Victory paper mill and its neighboring dump site, which are near the wells from which the municipal system draws water, as the possible culprit.
As of Thursday, the DEQ had taken samples from six of them.
Five are inaccessible.
Meanwhile, work is underway to hook up the Parchment system to the Kalamazoo municipal water system, which does not have high PFAS levels.
It will run from noon to 8 p.m. through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
You’ll have to verify your address at pickup.