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Report: DEQ emails show cozy relationship with Wolverine, delayed warnings about contaminated water

Ellison characterized MDEQ's response to PFAS contamination as a "mixed bag" with "spurts of urgency."
John Westrock
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Flickr - http://bit.ly/1xMszCg
Ellison characterized MDEQ's response to PFAS contamination as a "mixed bag" with "spurts of urgency."

 Stateside's conversation with MLive's Garret Ellison

 

New information has come to light about the way the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality handled an important warning on possible toxic chemical contamination of groundwater in Belmont, in west Michigan. 

 

The spotlight is on something known as the House Street sludge dump, where Wolverine Worldwide once dumped waste products from waterproofing Hush Puppies shoes. That waste was full of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: chemical compounds called PFAS of PFCs. 

MLive's Garret Ellison,joined Stateside to break down the history of the relationship between MDEQ and Wolverine Worldwide and to share his report.

 

Listen above for the full conversation to hear what Wolverine and MDEQ found in the water at their sample sites, what Ellison learned from his FOIA request to the MDEQ, and how communication worked between Wolverine and MDEQ.

 

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