PARCHMENT, Mich. - The City of Parchment is telling people to stop using the city's water due to high amounts of the chemical PFAS.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), are part of a group of chemicals used for in manufacturing, firefighting and other consumer products. City officials estimate about 3,000 people are affected.
The city of Parchment says boiling water will not remove the PFAS and residential filters won't work either. Bottled water will be provided starting Friday at Parchment High School from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
"We fully recognize the seriousness of the situation and we recognize that people are going to have concerns, so we're going to try to answer those concerns for you, but we're trying to help you understand that none of us up here are panicking but we fully recognize that people that want water are going to be concerned," says Richard Fuller, Kalamazoo County Sheriff.
The city provided these short-term solutions:
- The City of Parchment’s water supply system is being drained.
- Once it is drained, the City of Kalamazoo will connect residents on the City of Parchment’s water supply to the City of Kalamazoo’s water supply system. Residents will be notified once this occurs.
- The City of Kalamazoo will begin flushing the City of Parchment’s water supply system.
- The City of Kalamazoo will continue flushing out the City of Parchment’s water supply system until test results come back that shows the PFAS levels are below the health advisory level. We do not know how long this process will take, but residents will not be connected back to the City of Parchment’s water supply until it is approved.
Governor Rick Snyder is directing the state departments of Environmental Quality, Health and Human Services, and State Police, as well as the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), to assist.
Our first priority is the health of residents in the Parchment and Cooper Township area and to ensure they have access to safe drinking water, a plan for which is already being executed by local agencies with state assistance,” Snyder said. “Our next step is to work as a team to address the source of this contamination and restore the municipal water system. As soon as the tests results were reported, the state and local agencies tasked with protecting public health and our environment began coordinating a response and should be commended for how quickly and how well they worked together on this.
For more information, call 269-567-7595 or 269-567-2517. People can also get PFAS information online at the website of Michigan PFAS Action Response Team.
ParchmentMap 07.26.18 by WZZM News on Scribd
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