BELMONT, Mich.– The Kent County Department of Public Works recently released well monitor results showing PFAS at levels as high as 237 parts per trillion near the North Kent Landfill but according to decades-old state documents obtained by FOX 17, county leaders had plenty of warning that water there was in danger of being contaminated.
The Kent County Department of Public Works and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality are now coordinating well tests and providing bottled water to 47 nearby homes and businesses south and west of the North Kent Landfill.
Beemer tells FOX 17.
"You know, it’s just bad.
“They were gonna test for everything they’re looking for now, they didn’t say specifically," Beemer says.
The township’s records say those concerns went unanswered and a state appeals board ignored multiple landfill violations.
“Before we moved in, Kent County has to give you the permit to move in, that first told us they weren’t gonna give it to us, that was right after our house was built," Sue says.
Sue says the county told her they were initially denied approval to move in because the water problem was so severe.
For nearly a year beginning in September 1977, the North Kent landfill was unlicensed because of concerns over water contamination.
Wolverine Worldwide recently announced it will spend $40 million to address this issue.

– Delaware Governor John Carney stopped by Blades Saturday to oversee the response to the water contamination that was announced earlier this week.
Carney says he is pleased with the response from DNREC and the Department of Public Health.
The next step is to identify the source of these contaminants, and any possible contamination of private wells outside of the Blades public water system.
If the private water is contaminated, officials say they plan on providing water to those folks if necessary.
DNREC was on site discussing the situation with Carney.
Tankers and water buffalo will be in service for the town tomorrow.
We’re told by the end of this week a new carbon filter will be installed in the public water system to fix the problem.
This filter will be in place for a number of months to serve as a short term solution, while officials try to find a long term solution.
And so we’re making quick progress," says DNREC secretary Shawn Garvin.
"When we get these filters in will be there for months and months and months while we have the ability to figure out what the longer term solution is."

An estimated 90.8 per cent of Nigerians population lack access to portable water and have to make do with water contaminated by faeces and other impure substances resulting to water-borne diseases.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), recently warned that two billion people are drinking water contaminated with faeces, and 3.4 million people die annually as a result of water borne diseases, associated with inadequate provision of drinking water and sanitation.
Also, over 57 million Nigerians still lack access to portable water, drinking water from rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and irrigation canals, according to the United Nation Children’s Fund, (UNICEF).
Causes of contaminated water A UNICEF Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) specialist, Moustapha Niang, said that more than half of the 57 million Nigerians that lack access to portable water supply, live in rural areas.
There are cases of nitrate contamination also, due to seepage from nearby latrines and the use of fertilizers and pesticides for agricultural purposes.
“Bayelsa is particularly plagued with iron and manganese contamination, and this brings about esthatic issues which can lead to rejection of the water.” According to him, “Of this percentage, the Niger Delta region make up only 16.57 per cent; 32 million of the 190 million population, with access to improved water supply, with Akwa Ibom having 76.3 per cent, Bayelsa 27.5 per cent, Delta 75.1 per cent, Edo 73.2 per cent, and Rivers 86.4 per cent of the 57.48 per cent national average.
As at 2015, it was estimated that 69.6 per cent of Nigerians had safe sources of drinking water, but there was a decline from from 69.6 per cent in 2015 to 64.1 per cent in 2016 and 2017, according to MICS data.
The levels of safely treated water have been low and the 2011 MICS puts it at 0.04 per cent in 2011 and 0.09 per cent in 2012.
Solution UNICEF WASH specialist advised that it is imperative for the three tiers of governments to put more effort to ensure accessibility to portable water supply, or the nation will not be able to meet the SDGs Goal 6 by 2030, which aims at ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
This is an indication that Nigeria has a long way to go if she hopes to meet the Goal Eight of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which targets to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Niang, in his presentation, ‘Water, supply and quality in the Niger Delta’, emphasised on the need for proper orientation of the rural populace to adopt attitude change and embrace water safe plan, from water source, storage to point of use.

Barron has been testing water for more than eight years.
"In some cases, people consider the EPA’s guideline to be too strict," said Barron.
That’s why he believes the contaminant level limits a part of the non-profit organization "Environmental Working Group’s" health guideline are a bit out of context.
"The biggest thing I found is the taste of bottled water is better than the tap water," said Barron.
He says the salty, and at times, musty taste of tap water comes from organic compounds found in lakes.
As for drinking it himself, he says if there’s no bottled water around, he doesn’t hesitate to drink from the tap.
"My philosophy has always been after working in water treatment for eight years.
I’ll always drink tap water," said Barron.
Copyright 2018 KWES.
All rights reserved.

State to provide bottled water for drinking and cooking The Town of Blades is being provided with bottled water after the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control found high concentrations of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in all three of the town’s wells.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, PFCs are widely-used manufactured compounds used to make everyday products more resistant to things like stains, grease and water.
They are used in cookware, carpet, clothing, mattresses, food packaging, firefighting materials and aerospace, automotive and electronic products.
PFCs are troublesome because they are slow to break down in both the environment and in the human body.
Data from some human studies suggests that PFCs may also have effects on human health, while other studies have failed to find conclusive links.
Bottled water will be delivered on Friday, Feb. 9, at noon at the Blades Fire Hall for all residents.
According to DNREC, bottled water will continue to be provided until a permanent solution is in place.
The town water is considered safe for bathing and laundry.
Due to the water issue, Blades Elementary will be closed to students on Friday.
Staff should report two hours late and not before 10 a.m.

KENT COUNTY, MICH. – Wolverine World Wide announced it has committed $ 40 million dollars to help clean-up contaminated water wells in West Michigan .
Hundreds have tested positive for toxins known as PFAS.
The chemicals came from water-proofing chemicals used by the shoemaker.
Wolverine said in a release, most of the money will be spent on testing, bottled drinking water, and filtration systems.
“From day one, we said our goal was to restore the community’s confidence in its water and we continue to embrace our responsibility to see this issue through to the end,” said Chris Hufnagel, Wolverine’s Senior Vice President and Head of Strategy.
“We remain committed to working with environmental regulators and health experts, while also meeting our responsibility as a public company to outline our related financial commitments and expectations.” Wolverine states it has has paid for groundwater testing for around 1,500 homeowners and installed at least 30 monitoring wells.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this.
Download the WZZM 13 app now.
Have a news tip?
Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.

sports PYEONGCHANG, South Korea The water at the sprint canoe and rowing venue of the 2020 Tokyo Games is not up to Olympic standards, International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the IOC Session, Coates, chair of the Coordination Commission for 2020, called it a "high priority" for organizers to fix the problem at Sea Forest Way, a target of Tokyo Gov.
Yuriko Koike’s cost-cutting mission two years ago.
Tokyo already had a water quality problem on its hand when Odaiba Marine Park, the venue for the marathon swimming and triathlon, failed a test last October, and it appears the issue has spilled over into another venue.
"They did some testing in the water and the water quality isn’t good enough," Coates told Kyodo News.
"The problem in those sports is if you fall in the water and you’ve got a cut, you could (get infected).
"It has to be fixed; we had the same problem in Rio," the Australian Olympic Committee said, referring to the water in the diving pool that turned green.
"It often happens in rowing courses but it’s a high priority — it’s athletes’ health."
So they are working on these options."
"But maybe the filter may not be enough if there is too much rain so we have to have Plan B."

She said although 64.1 per cent of Nigerians had access to improved drinking water sources, North-East states were, however, lagging behind with 52.4 per cent, while South-West states top the chart with 87.3 per cent of its residents having access to improved water sources.
“About two out of every three households use improved water sources, while a little more than one-third use improved sanitation compared to 58.5 percent and 31 per cent respectively in 2011.
According to the report, overwhelming majority representing 90.8 per cent of households in Nigeria, drink water contaminated by faeces and other impure substances like Ecoli.
She said it was a known fact that water-borne diseases, such as diarrheal had been the leading cause of hospital admissions, especially among under-five children.
The UNICEF official said access to basic water and sanitation would promote wellbeing of citizens and reduce preventable diseases and deaths among the populace.
According to her, the MICS report, carried out in 2017 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with UNICEF, shows the country’s progress and lapses in key areas of development.
Mrs Elizabeth Ugoh told NAN that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, was working with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to enforce the National Standard for Drinking Water Quality.
Ugoh, a Deputy Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation in the ministry said, “the ministry is calling on all Nigerians drinking water from borehole and other sources to regularly test their water in laboratories across the country to reduce consuming unwholesome water.
According to her, six new laboratories are being constructed in the six geo-political zones by the Federal Government to improve water quality and standard in the country.
It would be recalled that UNICEF had called on the media to use data journalism to help highlight lapses in development indices and the overall goal of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The water quality at the sprint canoe and rowing venue of the 2020 Tokyo Games is not up to Olympic standards, International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates said Wednesday.
Speaking at an IOC Session, Coates, chair of the Coordination Commission for 2020, called it a "high priority" for organizers to fix the problem at Sea Forest Way, a target of Tokyo Gov.
Yuriko Koike’s cost-cutting mission two years ago.
Tokyo already had a water quality problem when Odaiba Marine Park, the venue for the marathon swimming and triathlon, failed a test last October, and it appears the issue has spilled over.
"They did some testing in the water and the water quality isn’t good enough," Coates told Kyodo News about the new issue.
"The problem in those sports is if you fall in the water and you’ve got a cut, you could (get infected).
IOC member and 2020 Coordination Commission vice chair Alex Gilady said a backup plan is necessary in case water quality control becomes difficult or impossible.
"We need to create Plan B if this happens in 2020.
So they are working on these options."
"…The filter may not be enough if there is too much rain, so we have to have Plan B."

Indian energy giant Adani has vowed to continue to fight a $12,000 fine for alleged contamination of wetlands near its Abbot Point coal terminal in North Queensland – but risks being hit with a bigger fine if they lose.
While the appeal against the fine for breaching the conditions of a temporary emissions licence during Cyclone Debbie last year is fairly common in the resources sector, Adani has also become embroiled in claims it tampered with samples sent to the Queensland Department of Environment during the investigation last year.
This is standard procedure during cyclone events and happens at mines, ports and mineral processing facilities along the Queensland coast.
But Adani was advised on April 6 it had breached the conditions of the temporary water licence after stormwater was recorded with a dirt content eight times the approved limit, or 806mg per litre.
In a separate court action, Adani is appealing whether the Environment Department had the right to issue an environmental evaluation of water contamination in the Caley Valley wetlands.
In court documents it said the notice required "significant and expensive testing and monitoring to be carried out".
"We will continue working to ensure our environmental laws protect our communities and outstanding natural assets," she said.
There is so far no additional charge for Adani relating to alleged altering of samples sent to the department which showed contamination worse than originally thought.
An Adani spokeswoman would also not comment on the court case, but stood the information, including the samples, provided to departmental officers.
"We operate transparently at all times and in accordance with the highest standards expected by the community," the spokeswoman said.