PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI — Plainfield Township is getting $750,000 from the state to cover the costs of adding a system to its water treatment plant to filter out toxic fluorochemicals.
Plainfield’s PFAS problem was discovered in 2013, but the investigation into drinking-water contamination from old Wolverine World Wide tannery waste has put the township in the middle of a debate about what level of PFAS is safe to drink.
Not counting Plainfield’s municipal system, an area search for Wolverine dump sites has turned up more than 550 wells with detectible PFAS levels so far.
PFAS has remained in the township’s water system in lower levels since then.
The state is investigating whether buried waste from the old Northeast Gravel landfill across the river is also contributing to the wellfield contamination.
Wolverine dumped waste in both landfills.
Algoma Township is expected to follow suit.
State money will pay for the filtration changeover, which is expected to cost between $400,000 to $500,000.
Another question that needs to be answered is how long activated carbon can be used before it needs to be replaced.
"This is a good test of how long we can keep that carbon in there until we reach that point of breakthrough," Van Wyngarden said.