House Street Disposal Area, Belmont, MI, Kent County

Belmont - House Street, Belmont, Kent County

Updated: September 18, 2020

EGLE Site Lead:
Karen Vorce
VorceK@Michigan.gov

Background The Belmont – House Street area consists of a former licensed disposal facility owned and operated by Wolverine World Wide (Wolverine) at 1855 House Street in Plainfield Township, a suspected disposal area in the Wolven/Jewell area north of 10 Mile Road in Algoma Township, and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) investigations into several citizen-reported unregulated dump sites across three townships in northern Kent County. On February 19, 2020, the Consent Decree between the State of Michigan (Plaintiff), Plainfield and Algoma Townships (Intervening Plaintiffs) and Wolverine (Defendant) became effective and serves as the framework for all future response activities performed by Wolverine at the House Street property and surrounding area identified as the “North Kent Study Area”.  Wolverine will conduct these activities under EGLE oversight, and the Consent Decree includes tools that ensure that the required work is completed.
	Testing Results	Interactive Map

Recent Accomplishments

• On September 2, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a response letter detailing agency comments on the draft Residential Well Resampling Response Activity Plan; find the document on the EGLE documents page.
• On September 2, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a letter which summarizes the resolution of disputes that Wolverine brought forth in their August 13, 2020 letter regarding the Filter Operation and Maintenance Response Activity Plan. A copy of this letter can be found on the EGLE documents page.
• On September 2, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a letter which summarizes the resolution of disputes that Wolverine brought forth in their August 13, 2020 letter regarding the Groundwater Surface Water Interface Response Activity Plan. A copy of this letter can be found on the EGLE documents page. 
• On August 18, 2020, EGLE hosted a virtual public meeting discussing the Area 5, Area 6, Area 11 & 12, and Area 19 Response Activity Plans. See below for more details regarding these Response Activity Plans and recording of this virtual meeting. 
• On August 17, 2020 Wolverine submitted their draft Perimeter Monitoring Response Activity Plan as required by the Consent Decree. See below for more details about this plan.
• On August 13, 2020 Wolverine submitted Notice of Dispute letters to EGLE pertaining to EGLE’s comments on the Filter Operation and Maintenance Response Activity Plan and Groundwater-Surface Water Interface Response Activity Plan; A copy of these letters can be found on the Wolverine World Wide Documents page.

• PERIMETER GROUNDWATER MONITORING RESPONSE ACTIVITY PLAN:
  On August 17, 2020, Wolverine submitted a draft Perimeter Monitoring Response Activity Plan for EGLE review as set forth in Section 7.9 (a) and Appendix N of the Consent Decree. This document will be subject to the public comment process set forth in Part 201 Section 20120d and Section 7.16 of the Consent Decree.  Refer to the banner at the top of this webpage for additional information regarding the October 6, 2020 online public meeting and the public comment period lasting until October 24, 2020. A copy of the draft Perimeter Monitoring Response Activity Plan can be found below:  

  • Perimeter Monitoring Response Activity Plan

Area 5, Area 6, Area 11 & 12, and Area 19 Response Activity Plans

• On June 18, 2020, Wolverine submitted the following Draft Response Activity Plans for groundwater investigations in the North Kent Study Area:
  • Area 5 Response Activity Plan
  • Area 6 Response Activity Plan
  • Areas 11 and 12 Response Activity Plan
  • Area 19 (R-1) Response Activity Plan
• These documents were subject to a public comment process as set forth in Part 201 Section 2012d and Section 7.16 of the Consent Decree.. The public comment period lasted from August 6 until September 10, 2020. Public comments are being reviewed and Responsiveness Summary document will be posted online once completed in the coming weeks. A virtual public meeting which discussed these Response Activity Plans was held on August 18, 2020.
• • View the recording of the August 18, 2020 Public Meeting
  • View the presentation from the August 18, 2020 Public Meeting

Residential Resampling Response Activity Plan

• On May 4, 2020, Wolverine submitted a Draft Residential Well Resampling Response Activity Plan for EGLE review as set forth in Section 7.6 and Appendix M of the Consent Decree. This document is subject to the public comment process set forth in Part 201 Section 20120d and Section 7.16 of the Consent Decree. The public comment period lasted from June 11 until July 18, 2020.  EGLE completed the responsiveness summary document which compiles and responds to the comments received during the public comment period; find the document on the EGLE documents page.
  • View the recording of the June 23, 2020 Public Meeting.
  • View the presentation from the June 23, 2020 Public Meeting.
  • Read the entire Draft Residential Well Resampling Response Activity Plan (27 pages)
• On September 2, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a response letter detailing agency comments on the draft Residential Well Resampling Response Activity Plan; find the document on the EGLE documents page.

Groundwater-Surface Water Response Activity Plan  

• On April 20, 2020, Wolverine submitted a Draft Groundwater-Surface Water Response Activity Plan for EGLE review as set forth in Section 7.10 and Appendix S of the Consent Decree. This document was subject to a public comment process as set forth in Part 201 Section 20120d, and Section 7.16 of the Consent Decree. The public comment period lasted from May 14 until June 13, 2020. EGLE completed the responsiveness summary document which compiles and responds to the comments received during the public comment period; find the document on the EGLE documents page.
  • ​Read the entire Draft Groundwater-Surface Water Response Activity Plan (596 pages)
• On August 3, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a response letter detailing agency comments on the draft Groundwater-Water Surface Water Response Activity Plan; find the document on the EGLE documents page.
• On August 13, 2020 Wolverine submitted a Notice of Dispute letter to EGLE pertaining to EGLE’s August 3, 2020 comments on the Groundwater-Surface Water Response Activity Plan; A copy of this letter can be found on the Wolverine World Wide Documents page
• On September 2, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a letter which summarizes and documents the resolution of disputes that Wolverine brought forth in their August 13, 2020 letter regarding the Groundwater-Surface Water Response Activity Plan. A copy of this letter can be found on the EGLE documents page.

Filter Operation and Maintenance Response Activity Plan

• On April 6, 2020, Wolverine submitted Draft Filter Operation & Maintenance (O&M) Plans for EGLE review  as set forth in Section 7.5 and Appendix L of the Consent Decree. The two draft documents submitted to the agency were made available for official public review and comment following the process set forth in Part 201 Section 20120d, and Section 7.16 of the Consent Decree which lasted from May 14 until June 13, 2020. EGLE completed the responsiveness summary document which compiled and responds to the comments received during the public comment period; find the document on the EGLE documents page. The Draft Filter O&M documents can be found here:
  • Memo from R&W-GZA Powers to EGLE Vorce re Aquasana 5300+ Point-of-Use Filtration Maintenance
  • Alternate Water Supply Management Plan: Point-of-Entry Treatment Systems
• On August 3, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a response letter detailing agency comments on the draft Filter O&M Response Activity Plan. A copy of this letter can be found on the Wolverine World Wide Documents page.
• On August 13, 2020 Wolverine submitted a Notice of Dispute letter to EGLE pertaining to EGLE’s August 3, 2020 comments on the Filter Operation and Maintenance Response Activity Plan; A copy of this letter can be found on the Wolverine World Wide Documents page
• On September 2, 2020, EGLE sent Wolverine a letter which summarizes and documents the resolution of disputes that Wolverine brought forth in their August 13, 2020 letter regarding the Filter Operation and Maintenance Response Activity Plan. A copy of this letter can be found on the EGLE documents page.

​Next Steps

• Wolverine will implement the work outlined in the February 19, 2020 Consent Decree.  Appendix K of the Consent Decree summarizes the schedule for submittal of Response Activity Plans. The table below summarizes the due dates and public comment periods of the Response Activity Plans.

Municipal Water Installation

• Section 6.1 of the Consent Decree discusses the framework for the extension of municipal water to parcels depicted and listed in Appendix I – List of Parcels and Map of Municipal Water Areas. Learn more about updates on the Plainfield Township municipal water expansion project.
• View a figure of the tentative construction timeline for municipal water expansion as required under the Consent Decree.

Filter Operation & Maintenance

• Wolverine will continue the operation and maintenance of whole-house filters and point-of-use filters in the North Kent Study Area in accordance with the Consent Decree, described specifically in Section 7.5 and Appendix L. 

Residential Well Testing/Alternate Water Information

• 135 drinking water wells have been tested by EGLE; 1,545 drinking water wells have been tested by Wolverine; 42 drinking water wells have been tested by Kent County Department of Public Works.
• Wolverine has provided 539 whole house filters and 236 point-of-use filters. Kent County Department of Public Works has provided 10 whole house filters.
• Section 6.1 of the February 2020 Consent Decree discusses the framework for the extension of municipal water to parcels depicted and listed in Appendix I – List of Parcels and Map of Municipal Water Areas.  Learn more about updates on the Plainfield Township municipal water expansion project.
• EGLE has sampled all municipal water supplies for PFAS, including the City of Rockford and Plainfield Charter Township. View the City of Rockford and Plainfield Charter Township results.

Upcoming Community Engagement

• October 6, 2020 from 6:00 to 7:00PM: EGLE Online Public Meeting for Wolverine’s Draft Perimeter Monitoring Response Activity Plan
  • Register for this public meeting.

*Groundwater results are compared to EGLE’s former Part 201 Criteria of 70 ppt.
*Residential well results are compared to the USEPA Lifetime Health Advisory Level of 70 ppt.

Sampling notes

• On August 3, 2020, new Part 201 Criteria went into effect. 
• Other PFAS analytes were detected in samples. There are currently no federal or state standards for these analytes.