New PFAS testing planned at Buick City after high levels found in soil and water

By Ron Fonger | MLive.com | October 23, 2020

Read the full article by Ron Fonger (MLive.com)

“FLINT, MI — The authority created to clean up and market abandoned General Motors’ properties nationwide says testing is being expanded in an area of the old Buick City site along Hamilton Avenue where testing this year has shown very high levels of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soil and groundwater.

Officials from the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust updated its work on the property during a virtual meeting Thursday, Oct. 22, including testing planned in the next several weeks around Building 44, which included a paint operation.

Testing this year in the same area has shown PFOS levels of more than 100,000 parts per trillion in both soil and water, leading to the additional testing and efforts aimed at preventing contamination from entering storm sewers and the Flint River.

PFOS is one of two types of PFAS chemicals regulated in Michigan due to health risks from the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and other adverse health effects. The state allows 12 parts per trillion in surface water, and it holds a wastewater plant accountable under its federal National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permitting if discharged levels are higher.

‘We are hitting high concentrations in ground water … (and) in soil sampling sites,’ said Grant Trigger, cleanup manager for RACER Trust, which manages the more than 400-acre property and others that GM gave it up during its bankruptcy more than a decade ago…”

This content provided by the PFAS Project.