Student work is a tell-tale tradition of the Gelman plume. Heck, student projects are why we know about the plume in the first place. Dan Bicknell was a graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Public Health when he discovered dioxane in a lake near Gelman’s property in 1984.
Michigan Public’s longform coverage about the plume is my contribution to that tradition. It was originally my master’s thesis. But with the help of Michigan Public’s editorial and production teams, I’ve adapted it for radio and the web.
The three articles and accompanying infographics are the culmination of over 18 months of research, interviews, and fact-checking. And in that time, I haven’t found an easy way for people new to the area to learn what they need to know about the plume. There isn’t a mechanism at the county, city or township level to notify new residents that the plume even exists.
Here’s what I learned after a year and a half in the stacks.
A truckload of information
First, let’s just describe the problem: Groundwater under west Ann Arbor and Scio Township has been contaminated with 1,4-dioxane for over 40 years. For some residents it’s old news, but others are just now learning about it as they move to the area.
The plume is now one mile long and four miles wide. Groundwater use in most of west Ann Arbor is banned. Houses over the plume are all hooked up to city water, and state officials I spoke to maintain that no one is being exposed to the plume.
But some residents are still concerned, and want to verify for themselves.
Multiple sources I spoke to pointed to websites or information repositories that new residents could browse to learn more. But many of those are poorly organized, difficult to search, and contain documents that don’t provide the big picture clarity most people seek.
There’s tons of documentation on the plume’s legal, technical and local history. But even digitized collections aren’t easy to navigate or search. A lot of information that is readily available gets too far into the weeds to be useful.
In short, there’s just too much information about the trees, and not a lot about the forest. The best options I’ve found are:
- an FAQ on Ann Arbor Water’s website that was published in March of this year
- another FAQ from Washtenaw County that answers practical questions residents may have
House hunting
So if you’re moving to Ann Arbor, how do you learn all this? Who tells you there’s contaminated groundwater beneath your house?
The answer might be “no one.” Unless you choose an experienced local realtor, said Todd Waller, vice chair of government relations for the Greater Metropolitan Association of Realtors.
“Any agent worth their salt working in this neck of the woods,” will know about the plume and provide guidance, he said.
There are thousands of contaminated sites across Michigan, including several Superfund sites. A local realtor should know which ones to look out for, Waller said.
“I bring these facts to light and say, ‘Look, you may be new to the area and may not have run into this information,’” Waller said. “‘Here are some resources for you to learn up on what this entails. Here's what it means to you practically as we go and look at housing.’”
Even if you aren’t looking to live above the plume, you should do extra research about a property you're seriously interested in buying or renting. Michigan State University property law professor David Favre told me that starts with the seller’s disclosure.
“It's supposed to trigger a dialog, to give a factual start place for a buyer to ask questions of the seller,” he said.
Buyers should use that information as a starting point, Favre said.
“I would sit down with the seller and go through it orally with the person and ask them and see what they say.”
And you can check the county’s records of the property you’re interested in. Lots of public records about a property are available through the county register of deeds — including info about the property that the seller hasn't disclosed (or may not know themselves).
The Washtenaw County Environmental Health Division said in an email that could include deed restrictions or affidavits that mention environmental contamination.
You can search for records online, but to actually read them, you have to visit the office in downtown Ann Arbor or pay for digital copies. It helps to know the property’s parcel number. You can look that up here.
You can also contact the environmental health division with questions about your well water, testing history or how far below the surface the groundwater under your home is.
What about water quality?
The city, county and state regularly test Ann Arbor’s groundwater and surface water for dioxane. And you can look up recent water testing results online.
Ann Arbor tests its drinking water for dioxane and other contaminants every quarter. Those results are posted online and summarized in an annual report.
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and Washtenaw County collect annual samples from wells in northern Scio Township and Ann Arbor Township that have had low hits of dioxane in the past. The county publishes those results every summer, although they do not share the addresses of the houses they’ve tested (those addresses are listed in EGLE’s online database).
EGLE and Gelman regularly collect samples from dozens of monitoring and sentinel wells around Ann Arbor (they’re required to by the consent judgement). But those results take some time to be published on EGLE’s website.
You can see a map of those wells and the plume here. Click on the circles to see results for an individual well. To find 1,4-dioxane test results, click the arrows at the top of the pop-up, then scroll down to “1,4-Dioxane Test Results.”
If you’re on well water near the plume and the county or state don’t already test your well, the Huron River Watershed Council recommends getting your well water tested regularly. Washtenaw County suggests three labs where you can send water samples. Here’s a breakdown of cost:
One more tip, from someone who used to work in a lab that tests water samples: Follow the sampling instructions the lab gives you! They are not suggestions. It is vital that you collect water just as the lab tells you for the most accurate results.
Getting into the weeds
If you just want to learn more because you’re a nerd like me, check out these sources:
- The Ecology Center/U-M History Labs - The Environmental Justice HistoryLab at the University of Michigan includes a history of the Gelman plume. Those sections are part of a larger narrative about work the Ecology Center has done in the area over the past 50 years.
- The Green Room, WEMU — If you like to listen to podcasts while you clean or drive, this is a good option. WEMU’s Barbara Lucas did a 25-part series on Gelman in 2016. The episodes are bite-sized and include links to additional resources. Check out a full list of the episodes here.
- Michigan’s Gelman Site 1,4-Dioxane Groundwater Contamination: Still Spreading Decades after Detection —
Yes, this is an academic paper with an abstract. But it’s written in lay terms, and covers basics of the plume’s history, science and current problems. And it’s peer-reviewed, so other scientists have read it and approved it for publication. - Library archives — The Ann Arbor District Library has a digital archive of Ann Arbor News clippings, photos and other articles about the plume. It’s like a time capsule and includes information about Gelman from before the plume was discovered.
And if you’re looking for updates on local activism surrounding the plume, you can attend monthly meetings of the Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane. That’s a group of residents and local officials who advocate for more cleanup of the plume.
Meetings are held over Zoom and recorded, then posted to YouTube. The group holds quarterly meetings in March, June, September and December, which state and federal officials are more likely to attend.
