PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP. — Cancer-causing chemicals known as PFAS have contaminated over 300 sites across Michigan, leaving many adults who grew up in the state unaware of the danger that lurked in their soil and water.
Sandy Wynn-Stelt, lives across the street from one of the most contaminated sites in the state.
"So many people have been impacted by this in our community," Wynn-Stelt said.
Wynn-Stelt of Plainfield Township lost her husband of 25 years to cancer in 2016, not knowing they had spent decades drinking water contaminated with PFAS.
"It was the following year that EGLE (The Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy) came to my house and asked to test the water, and that's when I learned that our water had been contaminated with PFAS at some of the highest levels ever seen in drinking water," Wynn-Stelt explained.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS can increase the risk of health issues, especially in children, impacting growth as well as learning and behavior.
"The number one question you ask is how much is in me. So we were all asking for that and we learned quickly that insurance doesn't cover [PFAS blood tests] and it's like an $800 out of pocket expense," Wynn-Stelt explained. "The typical American would have anywhere from 2 to 10 parts per million I think it is in their blood. Mine was 5,000."
Despite paying $800 for the test, Wynn-Stelt says it was worth every penny, because after she took her results to her doctor, they found she had thyroid cancer.
"I really do believe had it not been for those blood tests who knows what would have happened, but I know we wouldn't have found it that quick," Wynn-Stelt said.
Now, legislation making its way through the state Capitol aims to help people in West Michigan like Wynn-Stelt. State Senator Mark Huizenga is backing it.
"If people had the perception that their drinking water was clean and safe, and then it turns out it wasn't, then that's a kind of thing where the state should come back," Sen. Mark Huizenga, R-Walker admitted.
The bipartisan legislation would allow for research and provide free PFAS blood testing for people who were 11 years old or younger on January 1, 2012, and lived in Kent, Ottawa, or Kalamazoo counties.
"The state can and should stand up for the kids that may have been contaminated by this process," Huizenga said.
The legislation will cost the state $500,000 with half of the money going towards testing and the other half going towards research.
Bipartisan bills have been introduced in both chambers. Sen. Huizenga believes these bills are just the beginning and could set the standard for the rest of the country. He said he hopes more legislation will come to expand the free testing statewide.
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