BELMONT, MI — Testing for a toxic chemical plume in Plainfield Township groundwater has expanded farther southeast from the Wolverine World Wide tannery waste landfill on House Street NE.
The "Southeast Expansion Area" where drinking water may be contaminated with hazardous chemicals from House Street now extends south to Rogue River Drive NE, which cuts right through the village area of Belmont.
The new zone’s northern boundary extends east to the Rogue River from Chandler Drive.
Plainfield Township is in the early stages of designing a municipal water main extension that would serve House Street, Chandler Drive and other residential streets on well water near the landfill.
Last week, Wolverine World Wide said it will install filtration systems on the main water line of all homes that are being tested for PFAS. The company extended that offer to 338 homes undergoing testing before the area was expanded this week.
Wolverine wouldn’t immediately say whether it would extend that whole-house filtration offer to residents in the expanded testing area.
In addition to House Street, tannery sludge was also dumped at other sites around the Rockford and Belmont areas, including a Superfund landfill on the East Beltline in Plainfield Township, a former gravel pit that was redeveloped into the Boulder Creek Golf Course and an old dump at 4400 12 Mile Road NE next to the Rogue River.
All Rockford schools not on municipal water are being tested after a dump site off Ramdsell Drive NE near 10 Mile was discovered last week. Test results of school wells are pending.