ROCKFORD, MI — A Rockford middle school has shut off its drinking water and will be giving students and staff bottled water indefinitely after a former Wolverine World Wide tannery dump site was located near its water supply.
Superintendent Michael Shibler sent an email to East Rockford Middle School staff and parents Thursday after the district was notified by the Department of Environmental Quality, the Kent County Health Department and Wolverine World Wide of a former tannery dump site less than a mile northeast of the school.
Eight properties adjacent to the dump site are also being tested.
The Wolverine tannery in Rockford was demolished in 2010.
The property owner took samples from the property in 2011 and found evidence of metals, but did not locate any drums.
Tests on the water are being expedited.
The DEQ doesn’t know if sludge was dumped at the site.
Worrall said that there’s not yet evidence of groundwater contamination. However, he said the DEQ is "seeing a trend" with old Wolverine dump sites, and the groundwater is being tested "out of an abundance of caution."
Wolverine now says any homes testing above a federal health advisory level for the two PFAS – 70 parts-per-trillion (ppt) – will receive whole-house water filtration.