Following a mandatory water quality test by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in August 2017, Mount Pleasant joined the growing list of more than 30 sites in Michigan containing a contamination of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances — also known as PFAS.

Chemicals within the PFAS family have been used in the manufacturing process of a variety of products since the 1940s, including the foam used in fire suppression systems and products by Teflon and Scotchgard.

During the MDEQ examination, six of seven wells located on the property of the former Roosevelt Refinery, near the corner of Pickard Street and Crawford Road, tested positive for PFAS contamination. According to Michigan.gov, MDEQ advised MRP Properties — which owns the site — to test for PFAS due to the facility's prior use and storage of fire suppression materials.

Built around 1928, the Roosevelt Refinery was located at 600 W. Pickard St., extending for about a half-mile between the corner of Pickard and Crawford to the boundaries of the Chippewa River. It stood there until the facility was decommissioned in the early 1970s.

The site has been under the supervision of the MDEQ since it was decommissioned. All buildings have been removed, including many of the underground pipes and utilities, said Scott Dean, MDEQ communications director. There are a variety of containment procedures in place to prevent further PFAS contamination to the surrounding area.

"There have been many remediation technologies utilized at the site over the years," Dean said. "These have included excavation, groundwater pump and treat, bioventing, soil vapor extraction, and slurry walls to name some. Much of the shallow groundwater at the site is either directed toward to, or pumped toward sparge gates which help reduce concentrations of contaminants."

Due to the MDEQ's remediation procedures at the site, the PFAS contamination poses no threat to Mount Pleasant's supply of drinking water, said Jamie Hockemeyer, Mount Pleasant Water Treatment Plant superintendent.

"We have no reason at this point to believe our municipal water supply is impacted by chemicals at the former Roosevelt Refinery property, but we can't be certain there is no PFAS impact from any other sites until testing of the water system is complete," Hockemeyer said.

PFAS in Michigan

Though products made with PFAS chemicals are more resistant to potential damage by water, oil and heat, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that long-term exposure can cause complications with pregnancy, liver damage, thyroid disease and cancer.

A nationwide concern, MDEQ has been monitoring occurrences of PFAS contamination since the first instance was reported in March 2010 near the decommissioned Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda. Last year, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into action Executive Directive 2017-4, establishing the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), the first multi-agency team in the country designed solely to combat PFAS contaminations.

At the moment, the Roosevelt Refinery property is the only site where PFAS has been detected in the Mount Pleasant area, Hockemeyer said. MDEQ will initiate a comprehensive sampling of water sources throughout Isabella County taking place Oct. 1-15 to determine if there are any more areas contaminated with PFAS.

The push to uncover the extent of PFAS contamination in Michigan was set into motion in July, when Lt. Gov. Brian Calley declared a state of emergency for Kalamazoo County after the MDEQ sampled the municipal water system in Parchment, a city near Kalamazoo and found PFAS levels near 1,410 parts per trillion.

The samples found at the Roosevelt Refinery measured at about 1,300 ppt. The EPA-recommended limit is 70 ppt.

Though the threat of PFAS contamination has been effectively neutralized in Mount Pleasant, Hockemeyer's position at the Mount Pleasant Water Treatment Plant has made him a major decision-maker in the fight against PFAS.

"Since (PFAS) is an emerging contaminant that has the potential to impact everyone statewide and nationwide, the flow of information and education has been critical to understanding what is known about (PFAS), what is being done about it and what are the best ways to limit exposure to PFAS in drinking water," Hockemeyer said.

Cue the waterworks

The water quality in the City of Mount Pleasant meets, and exceeds, all state and federal quality standards, Hockemeyer said.

Built in December 1995 for $8.5 million, the Mount Pleasant Water Treatment Plant resides at 4195 S. Lincoln Road, where it processes about 8 million gallons of water per day. In addition to Hockemeyer, there are eight system operators on staff at the plant.

The multi-step process of producing clean drinking water for Mount Pleasant residents begins when groundwater is collected through either the shallow Ranney Collector Well located along the Chippewa River upstream of Mount Pleasant, or several deep wells located throughout the south and southwest portion of the city, Hockemeyer said. The raw groundwater, rich with iron, calcium and magnesium, is then transported to the plant for processing.

Once at the plant, the water is filtered through an aerator tank, which introduces oxygen to remove iron, carbon dioxide and other gases from the water. From there, the water is processed through one of two large funnels called "clarifiers" — each holding up to 200,000 gallons — that use chemicals to "soften" the water by separating heavier debris like sand and bacteria, as well as calcium and magnesium and letting the purer water go to the next step.

The water moves from the clarifiers to the recarbination tank, which adds carbon dioxide back into the water to stabilize its acidity level, and a series of filters to remove finer particles. The water is then transported to the plant's storage facility.

"The City of Mount Pleasant doesn't have any municipal drinking water source wells near the (Roosevelt Refinery) property," Hockemeyer said. "Our Wellhead Protection Program and source water delineation study doesn’t indicate any direct influence at this time."

For Connor Kowalke, a graduate student from Romeo studying as a wetland ecologist, the PFAS contamination in Mount Pleasant is not surprising.

Kowalke studies persistent organic water pollutants and how they accumulate in muscle tissues, with a focus on PFAS compounds. Kowalke had not heard of the Roosevelt Refinery contamination, though he's not surprised given the widespread use of the chemicals in industrial processes.

"It's unsettling, but at the same time, knowing what I know about (PFAS) — it was everywhere to begin with," Kowalke said. "Once it started being manufactured on an industrial scale, they're detecting it in remote villages in third-world countries across the world where industry has never touched — it's just gotten there through water or the transport of goods."

Research to effectively combat the spread of PFAS is still in development due to how recently the contamination threat was discovered. For everyday people, Kowalke recommends avoiding non-stick cookware like Teflon products, stick to cast-iron utensils and to use natural detergents whenever possible.