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Content updated August 2023.
Mary Ann St. Antoine, StAntoineM@Michigan.gov, (989) 370-8035
The Ishpeming Negaunee area of interest includes a 36-acre municipal solid waste landfill which served the cities of Ishpeming, Negaunee, and Negaunee Townships. The landfill closed in 1990. EGLE has record that a tire fire occurred on the site in 1989 that was extinguished using firefighting foam. EGLE requested that the landfill sample monitoring well locations for PFAS contaminants due to the likelihood that some of the materials deposited in the landfill and the firefighting foam contained PFAS. The highest result from the collected samples contained 19 parts per trillion (ppt) PFOA, over the maximum contaminant level (MCL) established by Michigan’s Safe Drinking Water Act (8 ppt).
The nearby cities of Ishpeming and Negaunee are serviced by municipal water. The regional groundwater generally flows in an east-northeast direction beneath the landfill towards Lily Pond and Teal Lake. There are several drinking water wells in the area including a campground and residential wells. EGLE, DHHS, and the Marquette County Health Department (MCHD) are coordinating efforts to sample area drinking water wells.
Because of its proximity to the landfill, the Brasswire Campground is required to sample quarterly for PFAS, for both on-site wells. The first quarterly sample was collected on June 21, 2023. The North Well had 4 ppt PFHxA (compared to Michigan MCL of 400,000 ppt for PFHxA). The South Well had no detectable level of any tested PFAS analytes.
