COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Community Health Agency Director of Environmental Health Paul Andriacchi reported during Thursday’s Board of Health meeting that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Energy, Great Lakes and Environment have begun a PFAS investigation in the village of Mendon in St. Joseph County.
He said a number of monitoring wells that were put in place as a response to a contamination site in the village were tested for PFAS and some high results came from those wells.
When the contamination site was first discovered, the village constructed a municipal water system. When the PFAS results were reported, a further investigation revealed that there were a number of homes within the village that still had private wells.
Andriacchi says two wells have been sampled. Ten more have been identified for sampling.
There have been a couple of homeowners that have refused sampling at this point but officials are hoping they may change their minds.
No results have come back yet but if homes have elevated levels of PFAS, the agency will be working with the state to provide bottled water and water filters until an acceptable water source is obtained.
There were three wells that were identified as a priority based on their proximity to the contamination site and the direction of groundwater flow. Those wells will have the samples expedited. The remaining samples will be processed normally.
