Tuesday, October 2, 2018

OTSEGO’S WATER IS SAFE DESPITE TRACE DIOXINS

Otsego’s municipal water has been given a clean bill of health despite a trace amount of highly toxic dioxins.
Otsego city manager Aaron Mitchell late last week announced the results of a recent round of extensive testing of the city’s three operating wells by saying the city now knows what is in the drinking water.
“I believe the testing we have gone through has been more rigorous than any municipality in the state,” Mitchell said. “And after all of that testing, we know that Otsego has clean drinking water.”
The city tested its water in unison with a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality effort to test dozens of residential wells in the surrounding area. That effort bloomed from public outcry over suspicions of increased cancer rates from decades-old contamination from the paper mill industry.
While final results of that testing are still pending, preliminary results showed some levels of some dioxins in 17; those homes are currently receiving bottled water.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, dioxins can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and can interfere with hormones.

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