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School's Water OK After Testing for Chemical Contamination

Creative Commons

Officials say chemical contamination in Michigan's northwestern Lower Peninsula has missed an elementary school's drinking water well.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports the state Department of Environmental Quality tested Blair Elementary School's well for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, after a chemical plume was found nearby.

Grand Traverse County Health Department Environmental Health Director Dan Thorell says samples were returned Monday with no sign of contamination.

He says another sample from a nearby private well came in below a federal health advisory level.

The DEQ will test more area homes in August.

The plume is from a former scrap tire site that burned for weeks in the mid-1990s. Firefighters used foam containing PFAS.

The chemicals also have been used in manufacturing and thousands of household and consumer products.

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