Michigan Is Tiptoeing Around PFAS in Dairy Agriculture
In Michigan, food testing has lagged significantly behind drinking water testing despite confirmation that surface water and animal feed from at least two farms are impacted by PFAS contamination. Regulators decided not to test an Allegan County dairy farm because they worried of repercussions seen in other states.
July 30, 2019 | Source: M Live | by Garret Ellison
LANSING, MI — Kay Fritz let the cattle out of the bag in Boston.
Fritz, a toxicologist with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), told the National PFAS Conference audience that Michigan punted on testing an Allegan County dairy farm because it worried about killing the farmer’s business.
Testing found PFAS in the farm’s hay and pond water. Instead of testing milk from those cows, Fritz said that regulators, leery of repercussions seen in other states, decided the exposure wasn’t serious enough and “we weren’t going to go there.”
“If you test the milk and you find PFAS, then you have to tell the farmer,” said Fritz, whose remarks are available on video.