ALPENA, Mich. \u2014 A combat center in northern Michigan has become the third military base in the state to test positive for contaminated groundwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preliminary results came in this week for tests conducted at five locations at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center earlier this year, said Capt. Brian Blumline, a civil engineer for the base. Blumline said all the sites showed elevated levels of perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctyl sulfonate, which are contaminants from firefighting foam that was used in training at the base many years ago. They were considered safe at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contaminants seeped into the groundwater when the foam was used, and there\u2019s concern a plume could have traveled over time and entered residents\u2019 well-water sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been in our groundwater for a long time and the test numbers came in very high,\u201d Blumline said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The maximum level of such contaminants deemed safe in Michigan is 70 parts per trillion, which Blumline described as one drop of dye in three Olympic-sized swimming pools. State Rep. Sue Allor said the test results at the base were at or about 80,000 parts per trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy feeling right now is there needs to be more action and this isn\u2019t moving fast enough,\u201d Allor said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about people\u2019s lives here. I want to make sure the health, safety and welfare of residents, animals and property are the top priority in this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blumline urged the public to attend an informational meeting at the base next week. He said state environmental and health agencies will provide updates on what steps will be taken moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to be able to fight this without community support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contamination also has been found at Camp Grayling and the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Alpena base is expected to receive more definitive test results in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A combat center in northern Michigan has become the third military base in the state to test positive for contaminated groundwater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1351],"class_list":["post-36877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"22KYXXLCG5BVZDHXXJWBJO6UTM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2017\/10\/14\/michigan-military-base-tests-positive-for-contaminated-water\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n