A number of homes near the Muskegon County Airport have tested positive for PFAS in their drinking water supply. Test results for polyfluoroalkyl substances in the drinking water supplies of 30 homes near the Muskegon County Airport found that two-thirds, or 20 of those homes have tested positive for the toxic chemicals, commonly referred to as PFAS. Kathy Moore is the Muskegon County public health director.
“We take it very seriously," Moore said. "Because we don’t know enough about PFAS and so we can’t dismiss it, and we don’t have time to wait and see, so we want them to be drinking bottle water immediately.”
The cause of PFAS contamination is believed to come from fire-fighting foam often used at airports to put out blazes containing jet fuel. The foam over time seeps into the groundwater near airports, and then into private drinking water wells. While PFAS can lead to liver and kidney cancers over time, Moore says many residents living near Muskegon County Airport must come to grips with the fact that they have been drinking the water for decades.
“There were some who had pre-existing health conditions, and so there natural reaction is to just wonder, ‘did this PFAS have anything to do with their health issues,” Moore said.
While the Environmental Protection Agency has set the lifetime health advisory for PFAS in drinking water at 70 parts per trillion, two homes near the airport tested at 518.6, some seven times higher than deemed safe by the EPA. Moore says those homes were equipped with a water filtration system and given bottled water immediately after learning the results of the test.
