Saturday, December 08, 2007

Groundwater Contaminated with Gasoline in Rockford

The drinking water supply for homes not at risk, area served by a municipal
water system

Nearly half of Michigan's population relies on groundwater for their drinking water source, yet contamination from leaking underground storage tank sites remains a significant problem for the state. Michigan ranks third in the nation for the highest number of releases from leaking tank sites yet to be cleaned up, with more than 9,000 sites currently known.

The state Department of Environmental Quality is spending $650,000 for cleanup from leaky underground storage tanks at a former gas station site in Rockford, Michigan. So far they've removed the tanks and cleaned up some of the soil, but it turns out much more clean-up is needed to make the site safe again. The money is coming out of the state's Refined Petroleum Fund.

Unfortunately, state cleanup funds are running out, and unless a new funding source is identified soon, cleanups at sites like this will no longer be a possibility.

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