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Rothbury Residential Well Sampling (Rothbury, Oceana County)

Rothbury Residential Well Sampling (Rothbury, Oceana County)

Disclaimer: Web content may not be routinely updated on this page.

Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.

EGLE site lead

Adam Donne, DonneA1@Michigan.gov or 616-558-2070.

Background

The Village of Rothbury is located in Oceana County. The drinking water supply at Greenlawn Mobile Home Court is located in Rothbury and was sampled by EGLE nine times as part of the state-wide public water supply testing initiative between 2018 and 2020. Concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were consistently detected at levels above the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFOA, which was promulgated in August 2020. A replacement well was installed at Greenlawn Mobile Home Court in 2021. The source of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in Rothbury is currently unknown.

In late-September 2020, EGLE began sampling residential drinking water wells in the vicinity of the Greenlawn Mobile Home Court to determine if additional drinking water wells in the area were impacted with PFAS contamination. The sample area was expanded several times since then based upon the data. Please refer to the map on this webpage for a depiction of the current sample area. Note that municipal drinking water is not available in the Village of Rothbury.

Content posted August 2023.

Site map

See an aerial view of the location of the site.

Expand the map
Rothbury Drinking Well Sampling Area Map

Drinking water

DHHS conducted resampling of previously sampled drinking water wells in April 2022 and June 2023. DHHS plans to conduct another sampling event in 2024 to determine if concentrations of PFAS in drinking water wells are stable or changing. If you live within the sampling area (see map) and have not yet had your drinking well water sampled by EGLE or DHHS, please reach out to the EGLE project manager, Peter Van Heest, at vanheestp@michigan.gov or 616-439-8019.

Anticipated activities

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) plans to conduct another sampling event in 2024 to determine if concentrations of PFAS in drinking water wells are stable or changing.

Historical timeline

    • In late-September 2020, EGLE's contractor, Fleis & Vandenbrink, sampled six residential drinking water wells in the vicinity of the Greenlawn Mobile Home Court at homes where EGLE had received permission for sampling. Of the six homes sampled, two exceeded one or more PFAS Part 201 groundwater cleanup criteria for drinking water, meaning, they exceeded either 8 ppt PFOA or 16 ppt PFOS. The District Health Department #10 immediately provided bottled water to these homes and, as of October 2020, was arranging installation of point-of-use filters.
    • On October 27, 2020, EGLE's contractor sampled five additional residential drinking water wells in the area.  Of these five homes sampled, two homes exceeded one or more PFAS Part 201 groundwater cleanup criteria for drinking water. The District Health Department #10 immediately provided bottled water to these homes and, as of November 2020, is arranging installation of point-of-use filters.
    • On November 12, 2020 EGLE's contractor sampled two additional residential drinking water wells in the sample area. Neither of the two samples had detections of PFAS above Part 201 groundwater cleanup criteria for drinking water.
    • On December 9, 2020, EGLE hosted a virtual public information meeting to provide information to the community of the status of this investigation area.
    • In February 2021, EGLE sampled the drinking well water at six residences and four non-residential properties. Of the ten wells sampled, one had a detection of a PFAS compound above Part 201 groundwater cleanup criteria for drinking water.
    • In March 2021, EGLE sampled the drinking water wells at seven residences and one non-residential property. Of the eight wells sampled, one had a detection of PFAS compounds above groundwater cleanup criteria for drinking water.
    • Based upon the results of the July 2021 sampling, EGLE expanded the sample area in August 2021 to include 10 additional homes, the majority of which were located south of the previous sample boundary.
    • In late-August and September 2021, EGLE sampled the drinking water wells at five homes in the sample expansion area. None of the five drinking water wells sampled had detections of PFAS above criteria.
    • In the summer of 2023, EGLE drilled deep drinking water wells to provide a new water supply to 12 homes and the Village of Rothbury building, which previously had elevated levels of PFAS in their well water. This provided a clean water supply to all the homes in the sample area known to have had elevated levels of PFAS in their old drinking water wells.

    Sampling Results Summary

    Type of Sample

    Date Sampled (or Range)

    Numberof Sample Results Received

    Number of Samples above Criteria*

    Drinking Water

    		 September 28, 2020 - September 16, 2021 73 10
    *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). 

    Sampling Notes

    •   None at this time.