"Ahead of the curve when it comes to testing city water for PFAS, Michigan has met its match with the state’s over one million private wells, urging residents to get their water tested."
"Seeking peace and quiet amid hectic careers, Sandy Wynn-Stelt and her husband Joel moved to Kent County, Michigan, in 1992. They picked out a home surrounded by woods and across from a Christmas tree farm, which Wynn-Stelt said was “about as Michigan as you can get.”
She was working in the mental health field. He was a social worker investigating child abuse. Their peace in the idylls of rural Michigan lasted 25 years, but ended unexpectedly. In 2016, Joel developed liver cancer and died within three weeks of his diagnosis. The next year, the state’s environmental agency found extremely high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, in the home’s well water.
The first test of the Wynn-Stelt’s water came back with PFAS levels at 24,000 parts-per-trillion, much higher than the 4-10 ppt limits the federal government would later set for the chemicals in 2024. It was such a high number local officials thought it had to be an error, but subsequent tests have shown numbers as high as 100,000 ppt for various PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” because they do not readily break down in water, soil, wildlife and humans. "
K.R. Callaway reports for Inside Climate News December 30, 2025.
Advertisement 
