Groundwater contamination from food processing common in West Michigan

It seems that Dow Chemical is not the only company whose actions have contaminated Michigan’s water supplies. The Detroit Free Press reports that groundwater contamination from food processing companies has become a serious problem in several West Michigan communities. An accompanying PDF file explains how the spraying of wastewater from food processing facilities for products like Birds Eye foods and Minute Maid juices leads to excess leaching of metals into the surrounding groundwater.

The wells are contaminated because food processors sprayed untreated wastewater onto farm fields, a common and accepted practice for decades. The theory was that the wastewater would restore nutrients in soil and would be filtered as it percolated into groundwater.

But scientists have determined in the last decade that too much fruit and vegetable waste on soil strips out oxygen, allowing naturally occurring metals and arsenic in the soil to leach into groundwater.

Some streams have been contaminated, killing fish. Tainted groundwater also moves into wells, destroying water softeners, washers, dishwashers and plumbing. It causes orange fingernails and sick pets, residents say. More worrisome to them are what they see as unexplained tumors, illnesses and even deaths.

So far, the article says, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has brought enforcement actions against more than a dozen companies responsible for such contamination and collected a few hundred thousand dollars in fines, but this does little to help the people affected.