AUGUST 23, 2023

LANSING – The Great Lakes PFAS Action Network today issued the following statement regarding a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling on drinking water and groundwater standards for PFAS established by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

In May 2021, 3M filed a lawsuit against the state of Michigan seeking to invalidate Michigan’s drinking water and ground water limits for PFAS contamination, which were set in place after extensive review and public input.

“Our community on House Street had some of the highest levels of PFAS in our drinking water in the state, so we were encouraged when Michigan finally passed these limits to help protect us from these toxic chemicals in our drinking water,” said Sandy Wynn-Stelt, a resident of House Street whose water was contaminated with PFAS, and co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network. “3M’s attempt to dismantle these standards now, when we are making real progress on identifying toxic PFAS contamination and protecting our drinking water, is deplorable. PFAS contamination is impacting people’s lives across the state, and the drinking water standards are a critical step to protecting others from being poisoned.”

The rulemaking process for setting the PFAS limits started in late 2019 and spanned several months. There was an extensive public comment period and separate public hearings, during which thousands of Michigan residents, independent experts and health professionals weighed in to ensure the standards were achievable and would protect public health. The drinking water rules formally went into effect in July 2020 and the groundwater standards took effect in February of 2022.

Sites contaminated with PFAS have been found in communities across Michigan. One of which is the House Street neighborhood in Belmont, Michigan that has grappled with PFAS contamination stemming from a shoe tannery owned by Wolverine World Wide that contaminated the area with PFAS chemicals in the 1950s.

“After achieving a victory for PFAS clean-up just last week in Oscoda, today’s Court of Appeals decision – unless reversed by the Michigan Supreme Court – would harm millions of people throughout Michigan and threaten our Great Lakes and inland waterways,” said Tony Spaniola, co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network. “The Court of Claims has already determined that Michigan’s health-protective standards are scientifically sound, and it would be a very dire consequence if the Supreme Court were to allow those standards to be wiped out on a narrow administrative technicality raised by an out-of-state entity.”