Laboratories Offering Home Testing
PFAS MCLs and Drinking Water
Statewide Testing Initiative
PFAS Sites and Areas of Interest
There are two major classes of firefighting foam: Class A and Class B. Class B is also called Aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) and is usually created using PFAS. It is a highly effective foam used for fighting high-hazard flammable liquid fires, like gasoline, oil, and jet fuel.
Official Correspondence
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Jonathon Lust, LustJ@Michigan.gov or 517-285-3724
The Michigan Disposal Superfund site (2800 East Cork Street), also known as the Cork Street Landfill, operated as an unlined general refuse landfill from 1925 to 1968. It was owned and operated by the city of Kalamazoo from 1961 to 1968, during which time a waste incinerator was operated on-site. The site was sold to the Dispos-O-Waste Company (later becoming Michigan Disposal), which operated a landfill on top of the old municipal landfill until mid-1992. In 1990, the site was placed on the federal National Priorities List (Superfund) due to groundwater contamination of various chemicals such as benzene, lead, zinc, and arsenic. The landfill was capped in 2002 and regular inspections along with other remedial activity began.
In April 2018, as part of EGLE’s Industrial Pretreatment Program, the city of Kalamazoo Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) tested leachate coming from the Landfill for PFAS. The results exceeded cleanup criteria, causing EGLE to request the EPA to conduct groundwater sampling for PFAS. The highest groundwater result was 210 ppt PFOS (compared to 16 ppt). Shallow groundwater and leachate flows from west to east and discharges into Davis Creek.
The City of Kalamazoo is on municipal drinking water. There has not been a residential well evaluation performed. There is a Kalamazoo Municipal wellfield (WSP-18) approximately 1,200 feet southeast of the site boundary. The city has communicated that this wellfield is currently not in use and has no current plans for use. The team has discussed all drinking water wells in proximity to the site and concluded that no additional sampling is required. Residential wells are located approximately ¾ mile northeast of the site boundary at a depth of 90 and 96 feet below ground level. According to historical well logs, there is a thick clay till layer between the shallow aquifer onsite and the aquifer that the residential wells draw from. EGLE and MDHHS agree that no local residential wells require sampling at this time.
Resampling of existing site groundwater monitoring wells discharging to the surface water in Davis Creek.