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ALPENA -- Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center has become the third military base in Michigan that has tested positive for perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid in groundwater and an effort is under way to see if and how far the contamination has spread.
Alpena joins Camp Grayling and the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base as military locations where contamination has been located. It is likely well testing outside the base will begin shortly.
At Thursday's Alpena County Board of Commissioners Airport Committee meeting, CRTC base civil engineer Capt. Brian Blumline said five locations at the base were tested in the spring and the results of the preliminary results came in earlier this week. He said the levels of PFOA were elevated at all of the sites.
Blumline said a special meeting for the public is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.Wednesday at the base, where state environmental and health agencies will provide updates on what steps will be taken moving forward and to answer questions.
He said the chemicals were in a firefighting material used many years ago and at the time were considered safe. When used they seeped into the groundwater and there is concern a plume could have traveled over time and entered residents' well water sources.
"It's been in our groundwater for a long time and the test numbers came in very high," he said. "I would encourage anyone with questions or concerns to attend the meeting."
The maximum level of PFOA and PFOS deemed safe in Michigan is 70 parts per trillion, which Blumline described as one drop of dye put into three Olympic sized swimming pools. He said it is important to remind people the numbers recorded in the initial tests are preliminary and will be official in January.
State Rep. Sue Allor said she has been briefed on the issue and she learned the test results at the five locations were at or about 80,000. Those test numbers would surpass the amount of contamination in Grayling and Oscoda.
"My feeling right now is there needs to be more action and this isn't moving fast enough," Allor said. "We're talking about people's lives here. I want to make sure the health, safety and welfare of residents, animals and property are the top priority in this."
Allor said she will be at Wednesday's meeting, which also will be attended by a representative from the governor's office, Department of Environmental Quality, Health and Human Public Health, DNR and military officials.
State Sen. Jim Stamas also was briefed on the situation and intends to attend the meeting. He said Alpena won't be the last location that will face the contamination issue from the chemicals. Stamas said more research needs to be done and then lawmakers will need to find the best way to deal with the impacts.
"This is going to continue to be an issue and there needs to continue to be discussion about it in Lansing," Stamas said. "This is only the beginning and we all need to make sure we continue to protect the public."
Brumline said the base no longer uses the foam that caused the contamination, but the pollution had been done over many years while being used during firefighting. He said most fire departments and airports used the chemical and there will be many more communities that will experience what Alpena, Oscoda and Grayling are now.
"I guess you can kind of say we are paying for the sins of our father," he said. A
ccording to Blumline, there is one well at the base and there was no contamination detected.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, health advisories have been issued for consumption of the chemicals in question. An advisory is issued based on the best available peer-reviewed studies. The studies indicate long-term consumption of the chemicals may lead to adverse health effects, including developmental effects to fetuses during pregnancy or breast feeding infants, cancer, liver damage, immune system and thyroid issues. Health warnings have not been issued by the EPA.
In addition to the meeting, Blumline said a public outreach program is being created to educate people and answer basic questions. He said there will be pamphlets and flyers that will be available soon.
"I don't want to cause a panic because this isn't like an E. coli breakout where people start getting sick, real fast," he said. "There is a reason for a lot of concern, but no reason to panic. Panicking doesn't help anybody and we're putting this out there as we learned about it. The base didn't suspect that we would test dirty or be bad at all. Our goal now is to find the sources of contamination and the movement of the plume."
The meeting at the base will begin at 5:30 p.m. Blumline said there will be signs giving direction to the location.
Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.