NEW HUDSON, Mich. – In the wake of the Flint water crisis, some Michigan residents are worried the Department of Environmental Quality is allowing another big water problem.
Stephani Bolyard moved into a 100-year-old farmhouse in New Hudson. After their previous well dried up, she had a company come and assess the costs of re-drilling.
She was told the groundwater in the area was contaminated and would require a heavy duty upgrade for the well.
Bolyard contacted the Oakland County Health Division that told her the home is situated dead center of a well-known contamination zone called the South Milford Road contamination zone.
“It’s not lead,” Bolyard said. “It’s still (a) substance I’m troubled by, especially for my almost 3-year-old daughter.”
Tolulene was discovered in her well, an industrial solvent.
“I was terrified,” Bolyard said. “I was disgusted that my daughter who was barely even 2 at that point was exposed her whole life. I was heartbroken.”
More disheartening was her discovery that the tolulene and other chemicals in her tested water were below state thresholds for danger, much like the disaster in Flint.