Rockford

ALGOMA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Chad Werdon has lived in his home on Tradewind Drive since it was built 22 years ago. Since then, he's gotten his water from a private well in his yard. However, on Thursday, May 11, he noticed his water pressure had changed drastically.

"Basically, we woke up and didn't have any water coming out of our faucets," Werdon said during an interview with FOX 17 on Friday. "Initially, we thought maybe something was wrong with the pump and contacted some people and were able to come out right away."

Werdon said the well company checked it and thought too that the problem was the pumps. So, they attempted to replace it. However, they quickly learned that it wasn't producing enough water and they determined that he needed a new well.

"At that time, I mean, it wasn't great but it wasn't the end of the world until we found out we are in this, Kent County Health Department's saying we’re in a PFAS area," he said. "So, that changes a lot of the rules on what you can get for a well."

PFAS, which is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is a forever chemical that's found in many household cleaning products, cookware, water-resistant clothing, makeup, dental floss and in firefighting foam.

In 2016, the chemical was found in Rockford's drinking water and has been linked to a variety of cancers. In 2017, a class-action lawsuit was filed against 3M and Wolverine Worldwide, which is based in Rockford, for contaminating nearby land and wells. In March 2023, a judge signed off on a $54M settlement between impacted residents and Wolverine.

Werdon said he's not a part of the lawsuit settlement. However, when he submitted a Well Exception Request, and subsequently obtained a permit from Plainfield Township, he learned there are specific rules he has to follow.

"So, the worry is that the water I believe is at 45 feet down, they believe has PFAS in it. So, they would go through that to like 120 feet," Werdon said. "And to make sure the water doesn't contaminate the lower water, they can't just do a normal drill-in well, they have to pour down concrete. They have to, instead of a PVC pipe, they have to put in a double-case pipe, I believe, half of it is steel."

The Well Exception Request document, completed by EGLE and KCHD, states:

In total, it could cost around $50,000, Werdon said."If it should happen to test positive for PFAS we’d have to pay to have it closed and they’d have to drill another well, which at that point I don't know what we’d do because I mean our yard is only so big," he said. "I don't know where else they would go and expect to find different results. I don't know. Hopefully, we won't get there."

FOX 17 reached out to the Kent County Health Department who said that they’re aware of his situation, and that the department granted the well exception request for a new well to be drilled as long as the recommendations are met. They also stated that municipal is not available in his area.

"It was odd timing but it just happened to be like the day before all of this happened here they had cut down a bunch of trees down on the Main Street there because they are putting in city water but they’re not coming down these side streets," Werdon said.

In the meantime, the Werdon family has been using water from a tank on their yard to get by. He said it's been there since May 12 and they use it to take showers and wash some of their dishes. But, it's not drinkable and they don't wash their clothes with it.

"We’ve had the bottled water as a lot of people in the area have for drinking. So, that's not been a big issue but it's still a pretty big inconvenience," he said. "The lawn's kind of dying. Almost don't want to mow it because you can't water it."

Werdon said he's reached out to attorneys for advice. However, he simply wants to get the word out that his nightmare can happen to anyone in PFAS impacted areas.

"The well people didn't even know when they got here. They had no idea we were in that kind of an area," Werdon said. "And to go from what would’ve been a $10,000 expense to potentially $50,000 you know, I don't know how everybody's doing that."