Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.
These plants receive residential, commercial, and sometimes industrial wastewater that may contain PFAS. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are not designed to treat for PFAS, therefore PFAS may pass through the treatment system to surface waters (i.e., lakes, rivers, etc.) and groundwater. EGLE is actively working with these wastewater treatment plants to address PFAS.
For more information, please see the Wastewater Workgroup page.
Leah Gies, GiesL1@Michigan.gov or 616-215-4781.
The city of Cedar Springs operated a 45-acre wastewater lagoon system between 1965 and 1999 at 730 West Street NE (including parcels 725, 750, and 755 West Street NE). The former wastewater treatment plant lagoons were closed in place and covered with clean soil and seed mix. Wastewater from Cedar Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) has been discharged to a new system since 1999. The current WWTP drain field is located at 4482 and 4550 Indian Lakes Road NE and is managed under a groundwater discharge permit. Groundwater at the historic lagoon site continues to be sampled annually by the city of Cedar Springs for ammonia, arsenic, iron, and manganese in accordance with the Remedial Action Plan. The current WWTP discharge field monitoring wells are sampled quarterly in accordance with the groundwater discharge permit. The results of the analyses are submitted to EGLE's Water Resources Division (WRD) as required.
At the request of EGLE, in late January 2020, the city of Cedar Springs collected groundwater samples from existing shallow monitoring wells in the area surrounding their historic wastewater treatment lagoons and their current WWTP discharge fields and submitted them for laboratory analysis of PFAS. This request was based on the fact that low level PFAS contamination had been identified by some residents in the area who sampled their own drinking water wells for PFAS. While concentrations in these area residential wells did not exceed 70 parts-per-trillion (ppt) for PFOA and PFOS, some drinking water wells did contain levels of PFOA (highest being 18.2 ppt) which exceed the PFOA criteria of 8 ppt. EGLE resampled seven of the residential wells and confirmed those results.
Results of Cedar Springs' late January 2020 groundwater sampling identified the presence of PFOA and other PFAS compounds in groundwater at both the historic lagoons and the current WWTP discharge fields. The PFAS levels were below 70 ppt PFOS and PFOA, however PFOA was identified at levels above 8 ppt.
Shallow groundwater flows to the west/southwest, while the deeper groundwater aquifer is estimated to flow in a more southernly direction.
Data suggests that the historic Cedar Springs WWTP discharge lagoons and the current Cedar Springs WWTP discharge fields are a potential source for the low-level PFAS concentrations identified in the area. EGLE has obtained state funding and hired a contractor to sample area drinking water wells for PFAS, in order to gain a better understanding of area groundwater quality and help identify any potential risks to nearby drinking water wells.
Content updated July 2024.
See an aerial view of the location of the site.
In late 2017 through 2018, 16 residents in the nearby Russell Ridge neighborhood sampled their own drinking water wells for PFAS and shared those results with EGLE. Results were below 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, the highest result being 18.2 ppt for PFOA. In January 2019, EGLE resampled six of the 16 houses that privately tested their well and sampled an additional well not previously tested. These seven drinking water wells were tested for PFAS. These seven (7) wells were selected for sampling based on their geographic location and well depth, to verify if the private sampling results were representative of actual groundwater conditions. Results indicated that there was PFOA in some of the drinking water wells, the highest concentration being 15 ppt for PFOA. These homes had existing whole house filters previously installed by the homeowner. EGLE requested to sample an additional 54 drinking water wells in June 2020, an additional 132 drinking water wells in October 2020, and another 68 wells in March 2021. These sampling locations were selected based on well depth, geology, and location to suspected source area. EGLE has continued sampling residential and commercial wells in this area. Residential properties with detections of PFAS have been offered point-of-use filters by local and state health departments.
In 2023, EGLE’s subcontractor, AECOM oversaw the installation of seven nested monitoring well sets in the Russell Ridge neighborhood and vicinity. Sampling results from these wells identified PFAS in several wells at concentrations below criteria. Evaluation of the data collected during these investigation activities is ongoing and is being done in coordination with the City of Cedar Springs.
The City has provided data from their 2023 remedial investigation conducted near the historic discharge lagoons property. A coordinated well survey event was conducted with the City of Cedar Springs in March 2024 to tie the discharge field investigation area to the former wastewater treatment lagoons investigation area.
EGLE continues to review residential and commercial well sampling data to determine if additional sampling is needed.
This table was updated to include all seven PFAS criteria effective December 21, 2020.
|
Type of Sample |
Date Sampled (or Range) |
Number of Sample Results Received |
Number of Samples above Criteria* |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Residential Wells |
January 2019 - July 2024 | 228 | 85 |
| Groundwater Monitoring Wells | January 2020 | 9 | 5 |
*Residential well and groundwater monitoring well results are compared to EGLE Part 201 criteria for 7 PFAS compounds: PFOS (16 ppt), PFOA (8 ppt), PFNA (6 ppt), PFHxS (51 ppt), PFHxA (400,000 ppt), PFBS (420 ppt), and HFPO-DA (370 ppt).
