The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) is seeking community members to join its new Citizen Advisory Workgroup (CAW) to advise the state in its ongoing response to PFAS contamination.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals, commonly found in fabric treatments, soaps, firefighting foam and other products, that break down very slowly in the environment, are highly soluble and easily transfer through soil to groundwater.

MPART recently released its final report from last year’s statewide water supply study, which was the first of its kind in the nation.

The study examined samples from 1,723 public water systems such as community water supplies, schools and childcare providers that use their own wells and tribal water systems.

The state said in 90 percent of the systems no PFAS was detected. There were “very low levels” in nearly 7 percent of the systems that were tested, however, and higher levels in 3 percent of the systems.

Only the city of Parchment and an elementary school near Grand Haven had test results exceeding federal levels for PFAS contamination.

“This first-in-the-nation study of all public water systems in the state resulted in 3,500 people in Parchment and Robinson Township being protected from high levels of previously unknown PFAS contamination in their drinking water last year,” Steve Sliver, executive director, MPART said. “We believe the data we’ve collected will be useful as EGLE (Environment, Great Lakes & Energy department) moves forward with the development of drinking water standards.”

The state says that MPART continues to fund quarterly monitoring for community water supplies, schools and childcare providers with PFAS levels, as well as monthly monitoring of community water supplies using surface water sources.

The state has compiled resources and information about the PFAS contamination sites in Michigan and what state agencies are doing to address it.

Sandy Wynn-Stelt, a Belmont resident, lives in one of the areas that has been under scrutiny for PFAS contamination from waste linked to Wolverine Worldwide, Inc.

Wynn-Stelt, an upcoming speaker at CMF’s Annual Conference, recently shared her story with CNN, explaining that blood tests have shown high levels of PFAS in her body after her well was contaminated.

Earlier this summer, Wynn-Stelt testified before a congressional subcommittee in D.C. about the effect of PFAS contamination on her family’s health.

The Green and Blue Network will continue the conversation with Wynn-Stelt and others at Annual Conference in the session Leveraging Partnerships to Address PFAS in Our Water, taking a closer look at the impact PFAS has on public health and the role that government and philanthropy can play in addressing these issues.

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Read MPART’s report.