PLAINFIELD TWP., MI — After nearly a month without running water, a north Kent County family will likely have it again just in time for Thanksgiving.
County health officials denied them a permit to dig a new well because the neighborhood aquifer is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances called PFAS — pollution from Wolverine World Wide’s nearby, decades-old House Street tannery waste dump site.
The state and Kent County both have regulations that forbid putting water-drinking wells in areas of known contamination.
Until then the Hula family, like days past, is without running water.
Finally, 18 days after officials were notified, Terry Hula got a call saying they were "expediting" a solution.
DEQ spokesperson Scott Dean said he expects the Hula family to have running water on Wednesday.
Family hopeful to host Thanksgiving dinner if water restored Over the past week neighbors aware of the Hula family’s troubles offered them everything from finished basements to stay in to spare keys to their homes, Terry Hula said.
Dean said he couldn’t "speak to" that and referred those questions to the Kent County Health Department.
A week later, DEQ gave Wolverine a deadline to "commit to providing the water tank and water hauling for the Hulas," Dean said.
Unlike the Hula family’s situation, residents and school children had running water as they awaited a long-term solution.