David Hohendorf talks about journalism awards recently won by members of the publishing team and what is offered in this July issue.
11
The turtles of Oakland County Their are 10 types of turtles that make their home in Oakland County. We profile them for readers.
24
View from above
An aerial view of Cass Lake, the largest and deepest waterway in the county.
19
Private residential water wells
Over 100,000 homes in Oakland County get water from private wells rather than from a municipal water system.
30
Biosolids fertilizer – more concern
While Michigan is considered the pioneer when it comes to using treated wastewater sludge as farm fertilizer, forever chemicals complicate the issue
Cover credit: Fourth of July celebration on Cass Lake, captured by
Paul Stoloff.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Our publishing group in recent weeks received some great news about recognition our team members got from fellow journalists for our story-telling efforts.
The Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) released in mid-May the results of the 2024 competition and members of our publishing team picked up recognition in a few categories. Judges were SPJ members in other states.
Our team members compete in the Class C (under 50,000 circulation) category.
Cover Design: Chris Grammer took third place for his December issue design of the cover for the Restaurant Inspections longform story appearing in Downtown Newsmagazine, the sister publication of LAKE magazine.
Health Reporting: Mark Stowers took second place for his longform story on Restaurant Inspections.
Environment Reporting: Stacy Gittleman took second place for her July longform on Fluoride in Water, many months before it became a national issue.
I remind readers that locally we are the only publication still committed to providing longform story-telling on critical issues. These stories are planned out months in advance and require weeks of work on the part of the reporters writing these pieces. So recognition by journalism peers is an honor.
We are looking forward to entering our efforts in LAKE magazine to the journalism competition next year.
Speaking of our longform efforts, in this issue you will find, starting on page 30, a piece on renewed concerns about the use of biosolids as fertilizer for crops on Michigan farms. Biosolids are produced from human waste at a number of processing plants in the state.
Over 75,000 tons of dried and treated wastewater sludge was produced last year by Oakland-based treatment plants, along with the treatment plant that serves the Detroit metro area.
While this fertilizer is welcomed by many farmers because it is generally free, there are concerns about the impact on the
human food chain, especially when one considers existence of forever chemicals (PFAS). While Michigan is often looked at nationally as the pioneer when it comes to standards of PFAS levels allowed in the farmland application of biosolids, there is at least one farm, in neighboring Livingston County, where land has been classified as no longer useable for growing food products due to soil contamination. The state of Maine has banned application of biosolids and in South Carolina, some farmland has been considered as comparable to toxic Superfund cleanup sites. All due to high levels of PFAS in the soil because of application of biosolids.
No one seems certain about how widespread the land contamination is in Michigan but land is generally not tested to determine the longer term impact of PFAS contamination. Without that knowledge, the possible impact on the waterway chains in the state due to runoff from farms can only be guesstimated, hence our decision to include this piece in LAKE magazine this month.
In this July issue, we also take a relatively detailed review of the 10 types of turtles that populate our state and can be found in Oakland County.
If you are one of the estimated 100,000 homes in Oakland, mostly in the western and northern parts of the county, that have private residential water wells, then our longform story on this issue should also prove of interest.
JULY FRONT COVER: This month our front cover was from a photo shot by Paul Stoloff of the rain-delayed Fourth of July celebration on Cass Lake. As a short reminder, we are still accepting photo contributions for the cover of LAKE magazine. In return we will send a check for $100 if we select a photo for one of our covers to be used in the remaining issues this year or in 2026 issues. So please keep sending us your work. We just ask that the photos you send be high resolution. Vertical photos work best for the magazine’s cover. When you send in your photos (lakephotos@downtownpublications.com), please include your home mail address so we can send a check if your photo is selected.
David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com
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Dinosaurs, lizards, and turtles all roamed the Earth some 200 million years ago.
Although dinosaurs became extinct, the other two survived and still inhabit the planet. Turtles are more prevalent in warmer climates, with 357 known species worldwide, 10 of which call Michigan home. This diverse array of turtles is vital to the ecosystem, spanning wetlands, lakes, rivers, and streams. They serve as “garbage collectors” and play an essential role in the food chain, providing benefits for both animals and humans. Many face significant challenges due to human activities and environmental changes. Understanding their life cycles, nesting behaviors, and conservation needs is essential for ensuring their survival.
Throughout Michigan, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), county parks and recreation, Michigan State University (MSU), and other colleges and organizations collaborate to monitor the declining turtle population and educate the public on how to coexist with these prehistoric, slow-moving creatures.
One of the state’s turtle experts, retired Michigan State University educator James H. Harding began his career in 1969 while pursuing his master’s degree. Like the turtles he studies, the esteemed herpetologist and lecturer emeritus at MSU has been methodical and steady in gathering and sharing his findings and knowledge. Of the 10 turtle species in Michigan, Wood Turtles have been his favorite and the focus of much of his work.
Harding grew up in the metro Detroit area before extensive urbanization, where there were many trees, streams, and wetlands to explore and play in. Thanks to his parents, his love for turtles began early in life. After moving to a new subdivision at the age of five, he still found plenty of unexplored wildlife.
“It was still surrounded by woods and not too far from the Rouge River, and I found a Painted Turtle walking through our yard,” Harding said. “I picked it up and I showed it to my father and said, ‘Can I keep it?’”
His dad acquiesced a bit and offered to put it in the sandbox with a little water so they could watch it and then release it.
MICHIGAN TURTLES
PREHISTORIC TO PRESENT – STILL MOVING FORWARD
BY MARK H. STOWERS
“By the end of about three or four days, it let itself go,” he said. “And my father says he regrets his next move. Jokingly, he bought me the little Golden Nature Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles. I just carried it around with me all the time and started identifying the things I found. I was just totally fascinated.”
The budding herpetologist started “raising” turtles he could find at stores. He bought Red Sliders and some Map Turtles with a little bit of food and sparse habitat but each met its demise and Harding buried them in the backyard, replete with a homemade wooden cross.
“There were always remains of little crosses where I buried all my failures until I finally figured out how to care for them and realized that if you take good care of them, they'll last longer than you do,” he said.
With the practical knowledge he gained from the original book, Harding has penned his own, "Michigan Turtles and Lizards: A Field Guide and Pocket Reference," with coauthor J. Alan Holman. Harding earned his undergraduate degree in zoology and his master's in fisheries and wildlife management. He even started a Ph.D. track, but his wife was in medical school at the time, and there was only enough time “for one doctor” in the house. Even though he is retired, he still spends time pursuing his boyhood interest. He began his career at Cranbrook, working for eight years as an interpretive naturalist and engaging in herpetology wherever he could.
“I set up a big turtle tank in the nature center there and kept a big black rat snake for use in programs,” he said. “Eventually, my wife took a job at MSU, and I just sort of sidled my way in there. I went back and saw my old professors and they kept me busy and it worked out pretty well. I ended up teaching herpetology in the zoology department for 25 years.”
Harding, along with numerous biologists and researchers continue to study Michigan’s native turtles. Michigan is home to ten native turtle species, each with its own unique characteristics and ecological roles.
The Blanding's Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) is recognizable by its bright yellow throat. This species is known for its gentle nature and is
listed as a species of special concern in Michigan. In Michigan, Blanding's turtles are primarily found in the Lower Peninsula, with less common and more localized populations in the Upper Peninsula. They are semiaquatic and prefer shallow, weedy ponds, marshes, swamps, and lake inlets with muddy bottoms and abundant vegetation. As omnivores, they eat insects, crayfish, snails and slugs, small fish and tadpoles as well as frogs, leeches and worms. They also eat plant materials.
The Map Turtle (Graptemys georgiana) is named for the map-like patterns on its shell and resides in
larger rivers and lakes. Found in the Lower Peninsula, particularly in southern and central counties, they also live in larger bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, as well as smaller streams. These turtles are known to consume a variety of items, including aquatic insects, mollusks, small fish, and crustaceans.
The Eastern Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus), known as the "stinkpot," emits a musky odor when threatened. It is a tiny animal, averaging about four inches long, very aquatic and only found in the lower peninsula. They are a typical species found along the edge of a lake in a weedy part of the waterway. These
turtles have been hit hard by the habit of spreading herbicides in lakes to kill off the vegetation. These herbicides
can have a direct, unhealthy effect on turtles, as the herbicides kill off all the plants that they hide in. Found in southern Michigan, Eastern Musk turtles dine on a variety of aquatic organisms, including insects, crustaceans, and aquatic vegetation.
The Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is a large, aggressive turtle commonly found in slow-
moving rivers and lakes. As the heaviest turtle species in Michigan, it inhabits various freshwater environments, including lakes, rivers, ponds and marshes. These opportunistic omnivores consume both plant and animal matter, such as aquatic plants, insects, fish, frogs, birds, small mammals, and carrion. Snapping turtles prefer shallow, muddy, or brackish waters with abundant vegetation for hiding and ambushing prey. They can also be found in areas with large boulders, undercut banks and root balls.
The Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is notable for its hinged shell, which allows it to close completely. In Michigan, it is the only turtle that remains on land and is classified as a species of special concern. As omnivores, they consume both plant and animal matter and primarily inhabit the southern and western
parts of the Lower Peninsula, especially in areas with mixed hardwood forests and wooded habitats. They are locally common in the southwestern counties, but their range has diminished due to habitat loss and other factors.
The Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) is the most widespread turtle in Michigan, easily identified by its colorful markings. It averages five to
six inches in length and possesses a shiny black or olive shell adorned with yellow stripes, and sometimes red stripes if found further south. This turtle is very common and is often observed crossing roads in the spring throughout the state, particularly in freshwater habitats such as ponds, lakes, marshes and slow-moving streams. It is also prevalent in the Upper Peninsula and the northern third of the Lower Peninsula. Its diet includes aquatic plants like duckweed and cattails, insects, snails, crayfish, mollusks (including zebra mussels), and small fish, especially those that are dead or injured. Young painted turtles are primarily carnivorous, feeding on insects, crustaceans, tadpoles, fish and snails. As they mature, their diet shifts towards more herbivorous options, comprising a larger proportion of plants. These opportunistic omnivores consume berries, mushrooms and carrion. They have been observed eating fish, frogs and reptiles that fit in their mouths.
The Red-eared Slider (Trachemys
scripta elegans) is recognized as an invasive species in Michigan. It competes with native turtles for resources and has become widespread due to "pet owners” releasing them into the wild. Commonly found in
freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes and ponds, its diet includes aquatic plants, small aquatic animals, insects and fish. As omnivores, these turtles consume a variety of foods, including aquatic plants, insects, small fish, tadpoles, and even carrion. They have been observed in the watersheds of Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, as well as in areas like Muskegon, Lansing, and Oakland County.
The Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera) is recognizable by its soft, leathery shell and pointed
snout. It is typically found in the Lower Peninsula, particularly in the southern and central counties. They inhabit rivers, lakes, marshes, ponds, and bays of the Great Lakes, favoring areas with a sandy or muddy bottom and minimal vegetation. Their diet consists primarily of aquatic invertebrates like crayfish, insects, and occasionally small fish. They also consume mollusks, earthworms, and other organisms, often ambushing their prey by hiding in the substrate.
The Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) is characterized by its black shell decorated with yellow spots, and it is listed as threatened in Michigan.
It is primarily found in the southern and western parts of the Lower Peninsula, specifically in and around
wetlands with shallow, clean water and a mud or silt bottom. These turtles are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals, including algae, aquatic plants, snails, worms, and insects.
The Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) inhabits sandy-bottomed rivers and streams and is recognized
as a species of special concern in Michigan. These turtles are predominantly found in or near flowing water and associated riparian habitats, especially in the northern regions of the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. They also utilize nearby terrestrial habitats during the summer. Wood turtles are omnivorous, feeding on a variety of plant and animal materials, including berries, insects, worms, and carrion. They are more frequently observed in the northern areas of the Lower and Upper Peninsulas.
Harding did offer an alibi for the Red Eared Slider’s rap as an invasive species to Michigan.
“For a while there, people thought that all the sliders in Michigan had to have been introduced through the pet trade. And then a while back, in fact, one of my first professors at MSU found remains of Red Eared Sliders in 2,000-year-old Indian middens in the Saginaw Bay area,” Harding said.
“That proved that the Red Eared Slider had made it into Michigan all on its own. Not that its numbers weren't augmented by the pet trade.” Turtles are among the longest-living creatures on Earth, but this is both a blessing and a curse for their existence. While some species often reach the century mark in age, each species takes nearly a decade (and even two decades) before both males and females reach sexual maturity. This makes them quite vulnerable.
Each turtle species becomes more active in the spring and early to mid-summer. That’s when nesting occurs, as females search for sunny, sandy, or soft soil areas near water to lay their eggs. Using their hind legs, the females dig a shallow nest cavity, lay their eggs, cover them, and leave. Incubation takes up to two months, with weather playing a significant role in determining the sex of the eggs. A hot summer produces more female eggs, while a cooler season results in male eggs. This phenomenon is known as temperature-dependent sex determination, making turtle populations sensitive to climate changes during nest incubation. Landowners and those who find turtle nests should also pay attention to the brush surrounding a nest. Clearing too much of it can change the sex of the eggs, allowing either cooler or warmer temperatures to prevail. Each species lays a different number of eggs each year.
“A box turtle will lay an average of about six eggs. A Blanding's turtle will lay an average of about ten eggs. And then you've got Snapping turtles, which are big and the females are able to carry more eggs. They can lay anywhere from 25 to 80 eggs or more,” Harding said.
Professor Frederic Janzen from the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station and the Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife & Integrative Biology, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program at Michigan State University explained that turtles don’t mate for life with one partner.
The slow-moving reptiles “get around.”
“Even within the same nest, on average, a third of the eggs will have more than one dad,” Janzen said. “Turtles are playboys and the females can store sperm, too, so they can go for several years even without remating and still produce eggs.”
But the females do tend to stick with the same nesting area year after year.
“There seems to be relatively minimal migration, especially for the females. They seem to be very biopatric, meaning that they kind of hang out in the fatherland. They stay close to that area. They do disperse away from shore and spend the year out in the slough, river, or lake, and so forth. But when it comes time to reproduce again, year after year, you catch those same females and the males, too, in the water when we're doing aquatic trapping. Females come back to the same nesting area over and over,” Janzen said.
Several turtle species in Michigan face significant threats and are protected by state regulations. Environmental groups, along with state and federal agencies, assess whether a turtle species is endangered through a process that involves scientific evaluations of population trends, habitat conditions and threats to the species. The Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI) plays a crucial role in reviewing the state's turtle species and making recommendations for their conservation status. The Michigan DNR evaluates these scientific assessments and makes decisions regarding the protection status of turtles. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) conducts its own independent review and may list a species under the Endangered Species Act if it determines that the species is at risk of extinction.
The categories of designation and protection include "species of special concern," which refers to species that are not currently endangered but are at risk of becoming so due to threats. Additionally, there are "threatened or
endangered” species if scientific evidence indicates that a species is facing a high risk of extinction.
Blanding's Turtle is listed as a species of special concern as it is threatened by habitat loss and road mortality.
“The Blanding's turtle is found throughout the Lower Peninsula and in a few, very limited areas of the Upper Peninsula,” Harding said. “It's not a large animal, but it can reach the length of a football, boasting a smooth, high shell and a very even temperament. They never bite and they have a claim to fame with their bright yellow back and chin beneath the chin.”
Eastern Box Turtle is also of special concern. It faces similar threats and is especially vulnerable due to its slow reproductive rate.
“The Eastern Box Turtle is the only truly terrestrial turtle in the state, found in western and southern Michigan, at least formally,” Harding said. “It's a woodland and woodland edge species, grows to about six inches long, and has a somewhat helmet-shaped shell, generally adorned with many yellow markings, though highly variable,” Harding said. “No two box turtles look exactly alike. Box turtles are like fingerprints. They are also considered threatened.”
The Spotted Turtle is listed as threatened and is affected by habitat degradation and predation.
Destruction of their specialized wetland habitats and exploitation by pet collectors have led to a severe decline in the population. In Michigan, Spotted Turtles are generally rare and confined to small, localized colonies.
“They’re found in very specialized little boggy habitats. Spotted turtles don't like deep water. They're very pretty little animals,” Harding said. “And they are considered a threatened species and given a very high level of protection. They are only found in the Lower Peninsula, in very specific habitats.”
The Wood Turtle is a species of special concern. It is impacted by
habitat loss and road mortality.
“It is a riverine and woodland edge species that lives in the rivers up north, northern lower Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula. They are called Wood turtles because their shells resemble carvings made from wood. In fact, their species name is in sculpta – their glyptemys and sculpt is a scientific name that suggests the very deep annual growth rings on the shell are distinctive. And they are a more specialized species that is also threatened,” Harding said.
Conservation efforts for these species include habitat restoration and nest protection, along with public education. For instance, organizations like the Sleeping Bear Wildlife Fund are actively involved in turtle conservation through events such as Turtlefest, which is held each May in Elberta and Grand Rapids, helping to raise awareness and funds for turtle protection initiatives.
The Spotted turtle, along with the musk turtle, is the smallest species in the state, and it only gets up to around four or four-and-a-half inches long. And it's found in very specialized little boggy habitats.
“Spotted turtles don't like deep water. They're very pretty little animals with a black shell with little yellow spots all over them. And they are considered a threatened species in the state,” Harding explained.
Michigan turtles face numerous challenges that threaten their survival, including road mortality, habitat loss, and predation. Female turtles migrate to their nesting sites and often have to cross various types of roads. Vehicles thus become a significant factor in their lifespan, and since turtles typically take nearly a decade to reach adulthood, removing just one from the population can negatively impact the entire community due to very low egg hatching rates. DNR Fisheries Biologist Tom Goniea explained more.
“Roadkill can be high enough to affect local populations and likely is
the largest direct loss of adult turtles by humans,” Goniea said. “Turtles don’t begin mating and laying eggs until the age of 8-10 years and have extremely low natural mortality rates as adults. If not crushed by a car tire, they can and often do live for many decades. Their low mortality as adults and ability to lay eggs annually for 20-50 years is necessary to overcome the extremely high mortality rate of juveniles and losses of turtle eggs.”
The natural predation of turtles –the circle of life – focuses on the eggs and baby turtles, which are easy targets and “tasty morsels for Michigan’s racoon, opossum and skunk populations. A floating baby turtle is also irresistible to bass or wading birds like great blue herons,” Goniea said. “As a result, the conservation of these animals really hinges on the protection and survival of adults, who have already survived the gauntlet of predator threats as juveniles themselves.”
Turtles need to sustain themselves and live such long lives –50 to 100 years – to reproduce and maintain stable populations.
“The margin on adult turtle populations is so slim that a six percent annual mortality for adults is often enough to threaten sustainability and push local populations toward local extinction,” Goniea said. “Let that sink in for a second. That means in a population of 100 adult turtles, if six or more are lost every year, the population could decline and eventually disappear.”
When developers build more homes and businesses, and lake owners “harden” their shorelines with seawalls and apply herbicides, these actions collectively destroy turtle habitats. Turtles must travel farther to nest, which increases their risk of danger and harm. Female turtles typically return to the same areas to nest and lay eggs. However, the greatest threat to turtle survival comes from raccoons. These clever and resourceful animals dig up turtle nests and feast on the eggs, destroying nearly all that they find.
Goniea gets about 50-100 calls and emails from concerned citizens who have turtles in their yards and gardens during nesting season.
“A lot of times, they call and they're looking for things that they can do to maybe help the nest or protect the nest and things like that,” Goniea said. “I usually recommend putting a four-foot by four-foot piece of chicken wire and brick on each corner over the nest, which just makes it a little more difficult for the predators to get at. And it also lets yard workers know where the nest is when working and mowing.”
The chicken wire allows heat and air to flow but provides protection. He recommends removing the structure by the Fourth of July to not interfere with the hatchlings.
“It's a harmless way for people to help the turtle population. They're helping that individual, so the mortality rates on nests in Michigan exceed 75 percent, but in localized areas, nest predation can reach 90 percent.”
Raccoons can be harvested yearround using all legal hunting and trapping methods for these species on private property when causing or being physically present where they could imminently cause damage. Damage refers to physical harm to forest products, roads, dams, buildings, orchards, apiaries, livestock, and horticultural or agricultural crops.
The Michigan DNR only requires hunters to purchase a fur harvester's license for $15 and a valid base license for $11. There are no established seasons or bag limits. Raccoons can be hunted year-round, both day and night. Researchers lack a complete understanding of why raccoon populations are so high, other than the fact that the overseas fur trade dwindled in 2008, allowing the animals to survive and thrive on human waste, particularly in improperly secured trash cans. Opossums and skunks also prey on turtle eggs.
Turtles benefit the ecosystem by
consuming plants, including invasive species that can create problems in Michigan's lakes, streams, and rivers. They also eat mosquitoes and other insect larvae. These omnivorous reptiles also act as local aquatic garbage collectors.
“Some aquatic turtles are scavengers. They eat a lot of dead stuff that's in the water. If you have a dead fish floating in the water, instead of rotting, Painted turtles and Snapping turtles come up and eat it. They all have their usefulness,” Harding explained. “They will eat almost anything they can catch, eat, or find that's remotely edible. Snapping turtles are usually thought of as carnivorous, but they also eat a lot of plants. On the other hand, a Blanding turtle doesn't know what to do with a plant. They eat mainly crayfish and aquatic insects, maybe the occasional fish, but they're not very good at catching them.”
The best way to help turtles is to leave them alone. Unless a turtle is in danger on the road, experts all agree that it should be picked up and placed in the direction it was headed. If not, it will still attempt to cross the road, putting itself back in danger. Additionally, don’t take them home with you.
“Box turtles prefer to stay in their environment. In fact, they can remain within a few acres their entire lives. When you remove an adult turtle from its environment, even if you take perfectly good care of it, it's still dead to its ecosystem. It’s dead to its habitat. It's gone. It doesn't matter whether you run over it or take it home and love it; it's still gone. There are only so many out there. If they suffer high mortality and most of their eggs are eaten by rats and raccoons, while many of their hatchlings do not survive to adulthood, you can see the problem. Therefore, turtles shouldn't be harvested. They should just be left alone,” Harding said.
For homeowners and especially lake property owners, the best thing to do is just leave them alone.
“Whatever turtles are left in a lake
are probably going to have to nest on people's lawns. The one thing you can do is to tolerate that. Keep the lawn mowed short in the springtime and don't use toxic chemicals on the lawn and allow them to be there,” Harding said. “We don't need to put chemicals in this lake. The fish need some cover. Turtles need some cover. Frogs need some cover. Their tadpoles need some cover. We'll get ducks nesting and all kinds of food for the ducklings. If you're a lakeshore owner, you can certainly enhance the situation.”
Janzen suggested, “Planting native vegetation around the water's edge, as opposed to having a Kentucky bluegrass all the way up to the front. And the reason there is that you get a lot more runoff and erosion if you have just lawn. And that's not good for the water quality, which is important. But also, that native vegetation is going to be something that the turtles will more positively cue in on.”
Another suggestion for landowners is to build or put in basking platforms for turtles. Fallen trees or platforms for turtles to crawl out of the water and sun themselves and also create an easier way to reach the shore if there is a hardened shoreline or seawall.
Researchers use a combination of shell notching and radio tagging to keep records and data on Michigan turtles. Each researcher has his own notching key or language that helps keep up with notched turtles. The turtles are repeatedly found and data is recorded.
“I was out with Jim (Harding) probably 10 to 12 years ago, and we found a turtle that he marked in 1967,” Goniea said. “It hadn't gone very far from where it was marked. Now, it may have moved during that time. If you've got a lake, it might be on this side of the lake versus that side of the lake. If you've got a river, maybe it went upstream for 10 years, but found its way back down.”
Janzen, a former college baseball player, has been working in the field since the 1980s, starting on the
Mississippi River in Illinois. Part of his research involves notching and tagging turtles for data collection and research.
“I've been taking students from Michigan State from station for field work,” Janzen said. “We conducted long-term studies looking at the effects of human changes in habitat, as well as rapid environmental changes, and how those are affecting the populations of turtles at that particular location over the course of several decades.”
Notching and tagging was at the center of the research according to Jantzen.
“Turtles live a really long time and you need a way to be able to identify them and to do this kind of capture. You make a mark or notch and then you release them. When you catch them again you learn something about population structure and size and how many males and females.”
As many turtles as possible are tagged, but not any hatchlings. Janzen pointed out that a variety of turtles actually have growth rings similar to those of trees. While not as specific as those found in trees, growth and age can still be estimated from the size and thickness of the rings.
“Those rings are really wide on the young ones because they're growing so much. And then the adult, once they reach maturity, they refocus their energy into making eggs or making sperm. They're not growing as much. Those growth rings tend to become really narrow,” he said. “There are some folks that drill a hole in the scutes around the edge of the margin of the shell. Others will make a V-shaped notch with a file. There are 12 of those scutes around the edges, and researchers will notch a different combination of those uniquely for each turtle. So, that process is similar for everybody, but how they count them and what they call those; like some people will use letters, some will use numbers, and have different counting systems.”
Oakland County lakes have their
fair share of ten specific species. Cleyo Harris, a DNR fisheries biologist, maintains turtle data while sorting through fish data.
“We typically handle turtles as we do with our lake surveys. We catch them when we set up entrapment gear around the lake for our fishery surveys. We also catch a bunch of turtles,” Harris said. “We try to make sure that they can get air because our nets are set overnight. The other thing we try to do is ensure that we're not sampling too late into the spring, because once the water temperatures get closer to 75, their turtle's metabolism is up so high that they can't hold their breath quite as long.”
Of the 97 lakes surveyed, 36 were in Oakland County. Each percentage reflects the number of lakes where the biologist recorded observations of each species during the surveys: Blanding – 3 percent; Map – 74 percent; Musk – 84 percent; Painted – 75 percent; Red-Eared Slider – 8 percent; Common Snapping – 63 percent; and Spiny Softshell – 70 percent.
“We're measuring them and keeping track of all the different species we catch and we occasionally will catch a pretty rare Blanding turtle and then the RedEared Slider,” Harris said.
Sean Zara, an Oakland County parks biologist, also keeps tabs on turtles and other reptiles and amphibians in the Oakland County 15-park system. He noted one of the four protected turtles – the Blandings – has been found.
“Not as rare as the other three rare species but they do occur in county parks, and they occur in a lot of our county parks,” Zara said. “They're actually still fairly common in Oakland County. We have the perfect habitat circumstances for them. They like the fact that we have a lot of lakes and wetlands, more so than the surrounding areas of the state.”
When Blandings are found, Zara photographs the underside of the shell because the patterns of black dots are quite distinctive.
“You can usually figure out who's who just from a photo. You can tell if you've caught that individual before just from a collection of photos,” he said.
Zara has created brochures for various bird and animal species in Oakland County parks and is currently working on a brochure for turtles.
“I encourage people to go out and spend some time along the lakeshore or on the fishing docks with a pair of binoculars and a field guide and see what turtles you can find,” he said.
A.J. Fetterman is a biologist who was educated and trained at Oakland University and now works for the Turtle Survival Alliance. Prior to this, he was employed by the Herpetological Resource and Management, a consulting company for construction firms. They specialized in safely removing reptiles and amphibians from construction corridors.
“We would palpate any female turtles found. That's just where you take your finger, usually your pinky, and you can feel up inside the leg pit and feel for any eggs. If we found a female, in the construction corridor and she was gravid, which is what we call a pregnant turtle with eggs, we would bring her back to the facility and induce her to lay those eggs or wait for her to lay those eggs. Then put her back into the wild. We would let the eggs hatch, give them a little bit of food, let them get started and then let them go.”
According to their website, “Survival Alliance is a worldwide organization in 18 different countries “that works as a global conservation organization to create a planet where tortoises and freshwater turtles can thrive in the wild. They use sciencebased initiatives directed by local leaders, inspiring sustainable, community-based stewardship to prevent extinctions.
Fetterman said, “I personally am doing mostly captive assurance colony work in population management. There are many turtles in the United States that are being
illegally taken for the pet trade and being sent overseas. So, the organization I work for partners with a lot of zoos and aquariums to handle the confiscations that are taken from primarily JFK and LAX. And there are primarily Eastern Box Turtles but there are a lot of species that are being collected and sent primarily to Asia but overseas in general.”
And when the fickle Michigan weather decides to start turning toward the cool side, all Michigan turtles will soon start their hibernating process.
“They all hibernate in different ways,” Goniea said. “We have one turtle species that is a terrestrial turtle, that's the Box turtle. They are going to hibernate in essentially leaf litter and stuff like that. They're going to bury themselves in that kind of thing in the fall. All the rest of your turtle species in Michigan are aquatic and will hibernate in the water.”
There are species that hibernate in rivers and some in ponds.
“A majority hibernate on the bottom of the lake,” Goniea said. “They're going to bury themselves in the muck. But I've been an ice fisherman my entire life, and I've had snapping turtles crawl across on the bottom underneath my ice fishing hole.”
And no matter when a turtle is found, Goniea gives the same educational advice.
“Unless you find a turtle in the middle of the road or in the middle of a parking lot somewhere, then that animal is exactly where it's supposed to be. Unless it's in a specific location where it's in immediate danger, and typically the danger is being squashed by a car tire. If that's not the case, then that turtle is exactly where it's supposed to be. I get calls all the time from people telling me they found a turtle and there's no water around. Turtles wander all over the place. They're able to do pretty vast overland movements and stuff like that. They're perfectly fine.”
PRIVATE WELLS
WATER QUALITY RESPONSIBILITY FALLS TO THE HOMEOWNER
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
ichigan has over one million private residential wells, serving an estimated 2.6 million people, comprising about 30 percent of all residents, according to the state. In Oakland County alone there are an estimated 100,000 private residential wells.
A private residential well supplies water to a single-family home by pumping water from groundwater using a water well.
Residents with a private well should follow recommended guidelines to monitor their well system and the quality of their drinking water for family members and guests. Yet there is no requirement to test or monitor water quality in Michigan or Oakland County even though the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) regulates the water well drilling industry. Water samples are collected by Oakland County during the final inspection of a newly constructed well. Well approval is based on the final inspection observations and results of the water samples, according to Mark Hansell, public health chief for the Oakland County Health Division.
The county also requires that homeowners secure a construction permit from its health division for any water well construction project, whether it is a firsttime well or a full well replacement.
Well system maintenance projects such as the installation of a new water pump or water tank do not require a permit. However, the well driller handling the project and installation must follow certain Oakland County guidelines for the permit to be issued. To ensure those guidelines are followed the Oakland County Health Division will often conduct as many as three or more site visits of a new well construction site before the project is completed, Hansell said.
“We’ll do an initial site visit and look for threats to the safety of the drinking water and other potential areas of concern,” Hansell said. “Then you have the inspection during the construction phase, and the final review before the well is fully installed. If there’s a need to drill a new (water) well, then the permit is required.”
An approved permit in Oakland County also requires water quality testing for bacteria samples like chloroform, and nitrate samples, which include human waste, pesticides and other items that can runoff into the ground. The county issues a permit once minimum water quality standards are met by an applicant.
“After the permit is issued, we do one inspection during the construction process,” Hansell said. This typically includes a meeting with the well driller to verify the well location and construction requirements.
Counties throughout Michigan may have slightly different permit requirements or ordinances that guide homeowner requirements, so it is always advisable to check with the local county office, Hansell said.
Michigan counties can enact ordinances that require well testing when a property transfer occurs, said Brandon Morrill, supervisor of the source water unit for EGLE. “We’ve also (seen) that water tests are usually required by most mortgage lenders and always by FHS/VA type loans.”
The Michigan Water Well Construction and Pump Installation Code guides contractors and residents of Michigan well owners. It assures that water wells are constructed, operated and decommissioned in a technically sound manner for the safety of residents and protection of acquifers.
The state water well construction code also outlines specifications for wells made of all materials, including galvanized black steel well casings and those made of PVC. Wells constructed today are often constructed using PVC because the price of galvanized steel and the associated labor that is required can be cost prohibitive for many homeowner budgets. Even so, building a new residential well is difficult and even if a homeowner has the technical knowledge and active skills, they still must meet code. That’s why EGLE officials recommend that a licensed professional should conduct the full well inspection.
“It’s not often a project for a (lay) person,” said David DeYoung, environmental quality specialist with a specialization in well construction with EGLE. A properly constructed well prevents it from contaminants like fertilizer, Hansell said.
Well issues are more likely based on the age of a well but human-related accidents like hitting the well cap with a lawnmower or an accidental crack in the casing or displacement of the cap are possible. This is especially possible with a well that is made from steel.
“Steel has a tendency to corrode. That can allow bugs, bacteria and dust to get inside the well,” DeYoung said. “If you have a bigger issue, there may be a contaminant in the aquifer.”
One of those potential large issues could occur
when water from an upper aquifer creates a conduit or discharge to a lower level aquifer. While rare, in this case contaminants could seep into an aquifer that a neighbor uses, DeYoung said. It is possible, but somewhat rare, that a property owner could be liable for damages.
State residents have been asked to follow different iterations of well construction code over the years. That has included evolving materials for grouting, requirements for proper plug spacing, and other strategies to prevent surface contamination at the aquifer.
Homeowners should pay close attention to whether the area around wellhead includes items or materials that could negatively impact it. For example, homeowners should never store, use or dump harmful materials such as paint, fertilizer, pesticides and motor oil near the wellhead. Fertilizer in particular should not be over-applied near the wellhead.
That wellhead should be kept at least 12 inches above the ground. It’s advisable to slope the ground away from the wellhead to prevent the puddling of water or other objects near the wellhead as well. That prevents standing water, which can accelerate the collection of contaminants around the well opening.
That area should also remain free of shrubs and trees, overgrowth, and other vegetation especially around the well cap. and homeowners will want to easily be able to access their wellhead for maintenance and/or for pump replacement.
“You want to keep that area clear,” DeYoung said. “(And) you want to make sure you can easily find the wellhead. That can help you quickly address an issue before it becomes a (very expensive) project.”
Another maintenance recommendation is to react quickly to issues uncovered through research and testing, and obvious visual or issue such as cloudy or dirty looking water. Odors, particularly the smell of “rotten eggs” and the loss of water pressure or continual pump cycling signifies an issue that requires a resolution, Hansell said. Wellhead defects should be addressed to ensure the defect is fixed to prevent contaminant seeping. A positive bacteria test likely means there are one or more structural issues with the well that require immediate attention.
In an effort to help spot residential well challenges, homeowners should confirm their wellhead information and document such as depth,
pumping rate, pump and pressure tank information, drilling method and date of completion. This allows them to better react to issues, and to provide the information sought by private contractor or well drillers if asked.
The Oakland County Health Division offers a range of educational resources to help homeowners conduct proper residential well maintenance. The county also has two certified labs in Southfield and Pontiac where water is tested for common contaminants. Residents interested in getting their water tested can pick up a kit for a small fee and collect the water from their property.
Once residents collect their well water, they can drop off the sample at one of the labs. Results are often available within a week through the Oakland County labs. Homeowners can also get their water tested for contaminants at private labs around the state.
Hansell believes that testing the drinking water from a well is one of the most critical maintenance responsibilities a homeowner has. He said he doesn’t care where residents get their water tested but stresses the importance of using a lab certified in groundwater quality tests. He recommends that homeowners test their well water for bacteria and nitrates annually.
“That’s really the best thing you can do is to get your water checked,” Hansell said. “It’s important to know what’s in there. I can’t emphasize the importance of well water testing enough.”
Water well testing can be managed for other contaminants as well, Hansell said. He recommends the testing of arsenic and other dissolved solids every two to three years. Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance that can get into groundwater through erosion and can cause adverse health effects, especially for people with compromised immune systems. Sulphur is another substance that is more of an aesthetic challenge for most homeowners given the propensity to cause unpleasant odors.
“Some of these substances aren’t going to cause many health effects but they are a nuisance regardless,” Hansell said.
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VIEW FROM ABOVE
Cass Lake
Cass Lake, a prominent feature on the main branch of the Clinton River, boasts a maximum depth of 123 feet. Upstream, it connects to the 243-acre Loon Lake, while downstream lies the 532-acre Sylvan Lake. Additionally, Cass Lake is linked to the 363-acre Elizabeth Lake and the smaller Dow Lake within Dow Ridge. Anglers frequently visit Cass Lake for its excellent largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and bluegill fishing.
Local health departments are the primary regulatory agencies responsible for inspecting residential wells. They are required to maintain a list of environmental contaminants within their jurisdiction, and they consider this information when they issue permits for new wells. Those health departments work with Michigan residents to ensure compliance with monitoring and routine inspections of Type II and III wells.
A Type II water system serves any nonresidential facility that provides water for drinking or domestic purposes to 25 or more persons at least 60 days out of the year, according to Oakland County. On the other hand, a Type I well is generally one that is drilled thousands of feet below the lowermost underground source of drinking water.
Approximately 800 operational Class I wells exist in the United States, according to EGLE.
All other public water supplies that provide drinking water not considered a Type I or Type II are considered a Type III system. Some examples are small apartment complexes or condominiums, duplexes and very small businesses.
Iron is commonly found in the ground around Oakland County. While iron rarely results in human health issues, it is an aesthetic nuisance that causes brown discoloration around or on a house, often from sprinkler systems.
Other important maintenance tips Hansell suggests include inspecting the well casing of a water well to ensure there is no damage or areas that contaminants could get into. There should also be a working vent under the water well cap and a fully functional screen connected to the cap to keep items from accidentally entering the well.
“You should visually inspect the area around and outside of your well,” Hansell said. “Most modern wells have visual clues that will be (obvious) if there’s an issue that is a concern.” Hansell says many water wells built since the late 1960s would actually be considered modern because of changes in their construction at that time.
If a well does get contaminated, private homeowners aren’t required to have an expert install a new well, but Ruth Kline-Roback, an outreach
specialist in with expertise in community-based water resources management issues at the Michigan State University School of Agriculture, strongly recommends it.
“You want to contact a licensed water well driller because if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be a pretty serious problem,” she said. Residents can ask potential well drillers for certifications, licenses and referrals. “They have specialized knowledge and will know what is common in the area (of the state) where you live, and how to best put together a plan based on the topography and what’s likely in the ground.”
Since county inspections are not required whenever there is a transfer of property, a regular home inspector can provide a good overview of the condition of a residential well, Morrill said. Inspectors possess varying levels of knowledge on the issue, so homeowners should conduct online research and ask questions. Morrill recommends that residents in the process of a property transfer that includes a residential well also connect with their local health department which may have a better understanding of the well characteristics for that region.
Most private residential wells around the state are drilled, especially in Oakland County where there is little clay in the ground, said Kline-Roback. Homeowners with private wells should always find out how their well was constructed and how it has been maintained.
EGLE recommends that residents use free online tools to help complete an annual well assessment. For example, the Be Well Informed website provides a 10-minute step-by-step inspection of a home’s private residential well. It is not intended to be a definitive assessment of a system, but additional resources assist owners with recommended steps.
“There are online tools that provide detailed information for homeowners that helps them understand the next steps and recommendations for well knowledge and maintenance,” Morrill said. “You want to get as much information about your well so you can make (informed) decisions along with any experts that you are relying on.”
There are several online sources available that provide this and other relevant information for residential well owners.
Be Well Informed: www.bewellinformed.info. Provides feedback for the public about common
contaminants that may affect well water.
Care for MIWell: www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/safetyinjury-prev/environmental-health/topics/care-for-midrinking-water/mi-well. Information and resources from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services to support the maintenance of private residential wells.
Oakland County Well and Water Services: www.oakgov.com/community/health/public-healthservices/environmental-health/well-and-waterservices. Reminders, resources and tips for private residential well owners.
Private Residential Water Well Testing (EGLE): www.michigan.gov/egle/about/organization/drinking -water-and-environmental-health/water-wellconstruction/private-well-testing. Information about well water tests available through the state.
Water Well Viewer (EGLE): www.mcgi.state.mi.us/waterwellviewer. Search and access information about private residential wells around Michigan.
Wellogic: www.egle.state.mi.us/wellogic. The statewide groundwater database. It can provide details on well depth, where they are routed and more for hundreds of thousands of wells around the U.S. Not every well is in the database.
Some homeowners may want to get their water tested for Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are complex group of synthetic chemicals that have been used in consumer products for around seven decades. Homes near current or former industrial sites and fire stations are advised to get tested for PFAS every few years. Unlike most other water tests, the PFAS test typically costs a few hundred dollars.
The standard bacteria and nitrate tests available through direct pickup are available through EGLE or Oakland County often cost $20 or less. Private labs also offer these tests, but the fees may be higher. EGLE offered free residential well testing kits in
recent years but ran out in 2024 due to high demand. Similar kits are available to purchase from the EGLE drinking water lab, including tests for arsenic and lead. State lab bottles are available by calling 517-335-8184 or contacting the Oakland County Health Department at 248-858-1280 or through email at health@oakgov.com.
“Most water tests are affordable, but you need to know what test to ask for,” Kline-Roback said. “You’ll want to confirm (with a lab) what (contaminants) you are looking to measure.”
The bottom line is that it’s up to homeowners to ensure their water is safe to drink. They must take the initiative. That includes proper ways to use and store chemicals to treat a private well. Michigan counties require different types of tests and requirements, including well and septic permits.
“I was pleasantly surprised by how many homeowners responded to the offer of free water tests when EGLE offered it,” Kline-Roback said. “That might indicate that offering the tests for free really does (motivate) more homeowners to get their well tested.”
Human activities can impact the ground quality around a wellhead. That’s why gasoline or engine oil should never be poured on the ground around a residential water well, Hansell said. If that happens and there are cracks along the well casing, those materials could impact the water table.
“In many instances we can set up or recommend a filtering system that will help solve the problem without having to (invest) in a costly well replacement,” Hansell said. “It will depend on damage to the well and the type of contaminants we are seeing but you can filter most (harmful) items. Solutions to an issue are often easy and affordable.”
Unlike a home’s roof, hot water heater or other notable expenses, a residential well can operate efficiently and effectively for decades, even 60 years or more if properly maintained, Hansell said. There’s no standard timeframe by which a water well “must” be replaced.
Hansell does recommend one additional tip for homeowners that will come in handy if there’s a flood caused by heavy rains, a hot water heater malfunction or other issues.
“People should know which breaker controls their well pump,” Hansell said. “You need to know that in case of a (water) emergency, and you can help to shut things down.”
The natural geology of the area is a major factor
in why one residential well may be dug at a completely different depth than a well right next door, Kline-Roback said.
“It’s based on how the glaciers were formed so it has created this system of multiple aquifers,” she added.
An issue with one well could cause an issue in another well if the two properties are on the same aquifer. That’s because any drilled well might reach usable water at a different depth depending on which aquifer it reached.
“You might drilled a well 80 feet on one property and 200 feet right next door,” Kline-Roback said.
The composition of the ground matters as well, Kline-Roback said. For example, sand and gravel is more likely to cause water contamination because there is more space between the materials.
Land in Oakland County and throughout much of Michigan is homogeneous, signifying that many neighborhoods and properties are on land that have similar characteristics. Aquifers sit at different depths, and a certified well driller is better able to determine how deep a well should be drilled to find the most suitable aquifer on a property. DeYoung said some homeowners want to drill a new well on their property for a small back garden fountain, but even that type of project can be both extensive and complicated, depending on the local geology.
“I always maintain that knowledge is your best protection for drinking water,” Kline-Roback said. "Older wells tend to be more susceptible to contamination but it depends on how they were made and how deep or shallow they are.”
If drinking water has been contaminated, it can expose people to a variety of pollutants and pathogens that have adverse health impacts;. Public water systems use water treatment and monitoring to protect consumers from such contaminants. However, this is not the case with private wells. Since well owners are responsible for their own wells, they should be aware of their well's potential for contamination and the possible health effects those potential contaminants can have, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Some of the most commonly found contaminants
have varying degrees of potential health issues. According to the EPA, water quality concerns for private wells typically include a range of materials that can seep into the ground, causing health issues for residents. Standard water quality concerns for private wells include coliform bacteria, nitrate, nitrite, fluoride, chloride, sulfate, sodium, hardness, and metals like aluminum, antimony, arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, iron, manganese, mercury, selenium, uranium, and zinc.
Microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites can be found anywhere and contain, among other things, human sewage and animal waste. Private wells can be contaminated by both naturally occurring sources and by human activities, but the volume of human activities are harder to predict and can vary significantly from one property to another, according to the EPA.
People who consume drinking water containing microorganisms can experience gastrointestinal illnesses and infections. Water run-off, leakage from underground tanks and septic leach fields can also cause microorganisms.
The EPA outlines other potential contaminants in private residential wells around the U.S., including: Nitrate and nitrite, which are present in chemical fertilizers, human sewage, and animal waste. They can contaminate a private well through groundwater movement and surface water seepage and water runoff. High levels of nitrate and nitrite can cause serious health issues for infants.
Heavy metals can leach into drinking water from household plumbing and service lines, municipal waste disposal, natural mineral deposits and other human-made sites. Health risks include acute and chronic toxicity, liver, kidney, and intestinal damage, anemia, and cancer.
Organic chemicals are found in many household products and regularly used in agriculture and industrial organizations such as inks, dyes, pesticides, paints, pharmaceuticals, solvents, petroleum products, sealants, and disinfectants. People who consume high levels of organic chemicals may experience health issues with their kidneys, liver, circulatory system, nervous system, and reproductive system.
Fluoride is present in many aquifers and can be found in private wells. Fluoride is helpful in preventing tooth decay. However, excessive consumption of fluoride can cause skeletal fluorosis, a condition characterized by pain and tenderness of bones and joints, and other issues.
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BIOSOLIDS
ADDED CONCERNS OVER IMPACT ON FOOD CHAIN AS WELL AS FARMLAND ITSELF
BY STAC Y GITTLEMAN
During the early 1990s farmers across the nation, as well as in Michigan, began applying biosolids –fertilizer sludge produced from human waste processed at wastewater treatment facilities – to farmland where produce for humans and animals were grown.
The biosolids use was a boon for farmers because it was typically free, with perhaps a small fee for applications on the land where crops would be planted. And the biosolids fertilizer was high in nitrogen and other elements that aided crop development.
But even in the early days of biosolids application on farmland, there were critics who questioned the safety of the process and the impact on human health. Now, years later, the concerns are proving even more valid thanks to presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – often referred to as forever chemicals. If present in high enough concentration levels, these forever chemicals can pose a threat to not only the food chain but in some cases can render farmland not safe enough to produce crops in the future, which has taken place in other states as well as in Michigan where in neighboring Livingston County a farm has been rendered unable to be used.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) in May announced a renewed vigor on attacking the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in our drinking water and biosolids, the waste that is left over after treating wastewater.
In an earlier April announcement, the EPA said it would aggressively tackle the nation’s forever chemicals dilemma by advancing research and testing to understand PFAS absorption levels in food, stopping PFAS from getting into drinking water systems, holding polluters accountable, and providing certainty for passive receivers, meaning the thousands of farms around the country that voluntarily received or continue to receive biosolids.
“With this approach, EPA will provide the foundation and investment necessary for a toolbox that will help states and communities dealing with PFAS contamination,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a May press release. “This list is the first, not the last, of all decisions and actions EPA will be taking to address PFAS throughout the Trump administration. There will be more to come in the future across EPA’s program offices to help communities impacted by PFAS contamination.”
While these developments may signal the creation of a highly-anticipated comprehensive federal roadmap on PFAS remediation that state regulators have been waiting for, that’s going to be a tall order to fill considering the Trump administration wants to slash the agency’s budget by 64 percent.
States have been largely on their own in regulating and mitigating PFAS in biosolids, with many of them looking to Michigan as setting the bar in terms of pioneering an approach that heads off forever chemicals at the source with its Industrial Pre-Treatment Program (IPP).
In 2022, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) released the findings from a survey of state environmental regulatory agencies on policies, testing, research gaps, and risk communication challenges related to PFAS in biosolids. Thirty-four states, including Michigan, responded to the survey.
All states are subject to federal regulations under Part 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 503 for biosolids use and disposal. These regulations allow for the land application of biosolids on food crops while also giving states the authority to make independent decisions about how to further manage biosolids, while allowing some states to prohibit the practice.
Michigan is the only state that responded to the survey reporting that it has industrial pretreatment standards for PFAS.
Maine is the only state with a ban on applying biosolids to lands. Maine and Michigan are the only states that have any prohibitions or restrictions on biosolids’ beneficial use based on PFAS concentrations.
Nine states (Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) reported that they have counties, municipalities, or other jurisdictions that have established individual standards, bans, monitoring regimes, or other regulations related to biosolids disposal or land application. Six states (Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Vermont) require sampling for PFAS in biosolids. Three states (Colorado, Michigan, and New Hampshire) require source control and reporting based on PFAS concentrations. Four states (Connecticut, Michigan, Nevada, and New Hampshire) implemented industry-specific pretreatment programs, meaning industrial plants must treat their wastewater and cannot release the effluent to municipal wastewater treatment plants unless it first reduces PFAS levels onsite.
Forever chemicals are a class of thousands of long-stranded molecular man-made compounds that garnered their name because their molecular bonds are the strongest manmade on earth and they do not degrade or break down in the environment.
According to researchers, 99 percent of organisms on earth, from humans living in metro Detroit to polar bears living in the Arctic Circle, have these forever chemicals in there systems. And unlike other toxins that enter the body, they do not get excreted and tend to stick around and accumulate over a lifetime.
The most pervasive and harmful of these compounds include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the kinds used by the military for firefighting drills. Both mentioned chemicals are commonly known as PFAS. They were eventually linked to kidney, liver, and thyroid cancers, as well as many other ailments. PFOS was phased out of production in 2002, and U.S. manufacturers eliminated PFOA emissions and product content by 2015.
Treated wastewater sludge, also known as biosolids under the Clean Water Act, is the byproduct of the thousands of municipal wastewater treatment plants around the country responsible for keeping our drinking, surface, and groundwater supplies clean and free from contaminants and harmful pathogens.
Before the passage of the 1988 Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, it was permissible for coastal regions of the country to dump it into the ocean.
When that disposal method ended, three options remained. Landfills for biosolids are running out of space and incinerating it is highly energy-intensive, contributing to high carbon emissions and other
harmful pollutants emitted into the air and land.
Some say that recycling our biosolids by applying them onto land – either to farms, forests, or recreation areas, is the best option to deal with the waste we generate every time we flush the toilet, run our dishwasher or washing machine, or pour stuff down the kitchen sink. Proponents say that recycling biosolids this way enriches soils with organic, nutrient-rich matter and reduces reliance on synthetic fertilizers.
There is a risk however, that land application of biosolids introduces PFAS to the environment, allowing it to damage farmland and water sources.
Researchers are only beginning to understand how PFAS interacts with soil and how crops absorb the chemicals into their roots, leaves and fruit.
Regulated somewhat by federal policies and mostly from state to state, biosolids are divided into two classifications.
Class A biosolids cannot contain measurable quantities of pathogens and must meet stricter EPA guidelines for land application. They are permitted to be used for agriculture, public residential and commercial applications.
Class B biosolids can be applied on land but are more strictly regulated. Food, feed and fiber crops cannot be harvested for a minimum of 30 days after the last application. Above-ground food crops must not be harvested for a minimum of 14 months after the last application. Below-ground food crops must not be harvested for a minimum of 20 months after the last surface application where the material remains on the surface for four months or longer before incorporation, or a minimum of 38 months after the last surface application where the materials remain on the surface for less than four months before incorporation.
When Class B biosolids are applied, livestock and domestic animals are prohibited from grazing on them for a minimum of 30 days. Turf raised cannot be harvested until one year after the last application and public access is restricted at least 30 days and up to a full year after application.
Janine Wells is executive director of the Northeast Biosolids Residuals Association (NEBRA), a pro-landapplying nonprofit organization that promotes the benefits of recycling the nutrients found in biosolids over the risks of disposal methods.
“There’s incineration, landfilling, and recycling,” explained Burke-Wells. “That’s a pretty shaky stool. I wish we had something like a sturdy couch to sit on. I think in 20 years; we will have many more options on how to dispose of and recycle biosolids. But for now, it’s going to be pretty ugly.”
Speaking to this publication between plenary sessions at the May 2025 Water Environment Federation Biosolids Conference in Baltimore, Md., Wells commended Michigan’s clamping down on PFOS and PFOA threshold levels and its pioneering approach of attacking these substances at industrial sources in wastewater before they head to municipal treatment plants.
“Source reduction is key to the problem and that is the thing to get done first and fast,” Wells said. “Michigan has succeeded in getting PFAS levels in biosolids down to very low levels in a very short amount of time. I can't say enough good stuff about that adaptive management approach and I wish the EPA had initiated something similar.”
Wells said understanding how plants absorb PFAS through their roots is extremely complicated. Varying factors include soil composition, density and nutrient distribution to name a few.
Wells said that on Maine’s contaminated farms, studies by the United States Centers for Disease Control show that plant uptake of forever chemicals in leafy greens or hay used for livestock happens more quickly than crops such as corn and wheat. As farmers made multiple cuts of hay or grass during a single season, PFAS levels in those crops tended to be higher in the second or third cuts.
While capturing forever chemicals that come from industrial sites in Michigan before these waters hit our municipal wastewater treatment plants is a step in the right direction, there still lurks the problem that so much of our consumer products – from clothing to makeup to carpeting – still may be made with forever chemicals.
“There’s a Minnesota study saying that 75 percent of the load of forever chemicals headed to our municipal wastewater treatment plants is coming from residential areas every time we wash our clothes or clean our carpets,” Wells said. “We need to get back to the source and that is reducing or eliminating forever chemicals used in consumer products.”
Wells added that it is crucial to solve this problem so the application of biosolids on farmlands can be implemented without hesitation to reap the benefits they supply.
“Biosolids offer overall soil improvements and are a wonderful source of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium,” Wells said. “We are talking 92 percent of the potassium farmers need without having to mine for it or import it from China. Biosolids land applications also offset carbon emissions because the soil sequesters the carbon into the ground
instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.”
Stephanie Kanner is the emergent pollution section manager of Michigan EGLE’s Water Resources Division. Kanner’s team is dedicated to implementing strategies to address PFAs in municipal and industrial wastewater and the residuals, or biosolids that are pulled from treated wastewater. In offering a brief history of the state’s approach to PFAS in biosolids, Kanner said in 2017 the then-called Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) began testing municipal wastewater and identified 80 municipal WTTPs that had high levels of PFAS in their effluent, which could be traced back to untreated water discharges from nearby factories and other industries.
In 2018, the state launched its statewide Industrial Pretreatment Program (IPP) and required 95 municipal wastewater treatment plants located in industrialized areas to identify industries that were releasing wastewater into their treatment plants that were using forever chemicals as a part of their industrial process.
Kanner said the IPP was a successful way to identify reduce, and monitor sources of PFOS.
“At the beginning of this initiative, 69 percent of the 95 wastewater treatment plants had already met their water quality standards,” Kanner said. “Through aggressive source reduction efforts, the remaining facilities have continued their effective PFOS concentration reductions in treated wastewater by 49 to 99 percent compared to pre-2018 levels. The program marked a significant step in managing and mitigating the impact of these contaminants on Michigan's water resources by tracing high levels of PFAS in effluents back to untreated discharges from nearby factories and other industries.”
Kanner continued: “We identified five facilities that had what we considered industrially impacted biosolids. They included Wixom, Bronson, Lapeer, Ionia, and the K.I. Sawyer Air Force base in Marquette. They contained PFOS/PFOA at higher levels than the rest of the state, and they were usually medium or small plants whose effluent came from industrial sites.”
The WRD in 2018 halted land application of biosolids from those five plants and continued with a study that examined PFAS levels in biosolids at 42 plants around the state to develop PFAS/PFOA threshold levels that would be classified as industrially impacted biosolids. If counts reached this level, it was no longer allowed to participate in the state’s applied biosolids distribution program.
“As far as where these biosolids can wind up, that is the million-dollar question,” Kanner admitted.
“Some of the facilities were able to landfill the waste, but at least two of the facilities are keeping these contaminated biosolids in containers onsite because they have not found an economical way to dispose of them. There's no grant program to help them offset the cost for disposal, so there it sits until there is a viable place for these biosolids to be disposed.”
Under its 2021 interim strategy, Michigan banned the land application of industrially impacted biosolids containing more than 150 parts per billion (ppb) of PFOS and now requires testing of all biosolids before land application. By 2021, with the IPP well underway, Kanner said EGLE expanded its efforts testing PFAS/PFOA levels in biosolids at the state’s municipal wastewater treatment plants.
“We wanted to ensure that not just the IPP facilities but all wastewater facilities that would be land applying their biosolids would need to sample them before they land applied them,” Kanner said.
“The 2021 interim plan required that any municipal wastewater treatment plant wishing to land apply their biosolids would have to provide a sample to EGLE and submit those results to EGLE and compare the thresholds in the sample to our acceptable thresholds. The rules allow us to take a site-specific approach. We developed our own rules to develop this strategy and so far, everybody’s complying.”
While efforts in the 2021 interim plan focused on PFOS, in 2024, EGLE turned its attention to bringing down levels of PFOA.
Kanner said though EGLE had not seen high concentrations of PFOA in most municipal wastewater supplies, it wanted to put a second focus on this chemical because there were a few facilities with elevated levels. Kanner added that EGLE focuses on PFOS and PFOA because they are the most federally studied forever chemicals with the longest molecular structures that are most likely to accumulate in tested organisms such as fish and wild game. We wanted to bring this chemical into the spotlight because there were a few plants that
Kanner said EGLE is prioritizing its efforts on managing PFAS/PFOA levels in biosolids at the industrial and municipal wastewater level rather than sampling soils on farmland for these chemicals.
“Sampling soils on farms is not part of our strategy for now,” Kanner said. “Testing for forever chemicals in soils is a costly and complicated process. Michigan has in the past taken samples from some fields and many variables go into this, such as soil depth and mineral concentration to name a few. Testing the soil would open up many questions, such as how and who would conduct the
testing, and who would pay for it all down the road, we would like some guidance from the EPA on this,” Kanner said. “At this point, we are not focusing on testing soils.”
EGLE also requires additional monitoring and quality requirements for biosolids that are designated as exceptional quality under its updated 2024 rules. According to Scott Dean, EGLE spokesperson.
“With the implementation of the IPP PFAS initiative and the interim biosolids strategy, we have seen an overall decrease in PFOS and PFOA concentrations in both municipal wastewater treatment plant discharges and biosolids,” Dean said. “Our updated strategy in 2024 includes lowering counts down to 20 parts per billion. Any facility that has PFAS levels that exceed this count requires WWTPs to sample its effluent within 60 days if it is not already being conducted through the industrial pretreatment program.”
Dean stressed that EGLE’s focus remains on protecting the safety of the state’s drinking and surface waters against elevated levels of forever chemicals. For this, they have created a model program for the rest of the country.
“We have states calling us all the time to learn about our program because of where we are putting our focus,” Dean said. “People typically buy food from a global market and therefore that makes PFAS exposure hard to pin down. EGLE sees the best place to put our resources on reducing people’s exposure to PFAS is in the quality of our drinking water.”
All wastewater treatment plants in the state that land apply their biosolids work through EGLE’s residual management program for permitting. Sampling is conducted once per calendar year before land application.
Detroit’s Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) dominates Michigan’s biosolids production.
In 2024, GLWA processed 30,000 dry tons through incineration, 74,000 dry tons were processed through a heating and drying facility to be used for land applications, and 862 tons were landfilled for an annual total of 105,3000 tons of biosolids, according to Majid Khan, director of wastewater operations.
GLWA contracts the operation of its biosolids drying facility to Synagro/New England Fertilizer Company, which is responsible for the distribution of its class A fertilizer pellets exported to Canada.
In 2024, four GLWA biosolids samples were evaluated for PFOS, resulting in an average value of 4.9 ppb which is 75 percent below the threshold levels. Khan stated that GLWA continues to implement its PFOS/PFOA minimization program to reduce the concentration found in biosolids.
In 2022 the Clinton River wastewater treatment plant, run by the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner and serving 13 municipalities in Oakland County, launched its $32 million resource recovery biosolids project to not only reduce forever chemicals in its biosolids but shrink biosolids volume by 20 percent and cuts disposal costs by 50 percent.
Although EGLE has listed the facility’s biosolids as Class A, the biosolids produced here since 2019 have been shipped to Canada for farming fertilizer, according to Michael Daniels, plant manager.
Daniels said in the past the biosolids were being used by farmers in Michigan and the levels of PFOS were well below the 20 ppb threshold.
Daniels said because of the lack of nearby industry, the effluent headed to the plant was not impacted by heavy amounts of forever chemicals as other facilities experienced that were close to tanneries, automotive chrome plating plants, or Airforce bases. Any PFAS coming into the wastewater plant as effluent originates in leachate from local landfills, which have been issued pretreatment permits to remediate levels on site.
Daniels said because of the plant’s proximity to the Canadian border, it is cheaper to pay a Canadian company to haul its annual 3,000 tons of biosolids away at $30 per ton than pay for the state to land apply it in Michigan at $60 per ton.
“For us, it was about the money, not the forever chemicals,” Daniels explained. “We have an exceptional quality of biosolid that is going to Canada, which has a much more relaxed level of a PFOS threshold, which is about 50 parts per billion.”
In 2024, the Walled Lake Novi wastewater treatment plant produced 393 dry tons of class B biosolids.
These biosolids are land-applied in Oakland, Genesee and Washtenaw counties.
The plant has been proactive in managing PFAS contamination, maintaining low levels of 7.8 ppb for PFOS and 1.8 parts per billion for PFOA –well below the state's 20 ppb limit for biosolids, according to Mary Koeger, assistant chief engineer with Oakland County Water Resources.
Koeger said this is well below EGLE’s threshold counts and attributes this low number to local commercial and industrial entities in its service area which are closely adhering to their sewerage industrial pretreatment program.
“We want to do what's best for the environment and use the community’s funds wisely,” Koeger said. “Instead of putting millions of dollars into this equipment that might not necessarily work to remove PFAS once it reaches the wastewater treatment
plant, it is best to educate our communities and our commercial users to try to get them away from these chemicals to begin with.”
One of the most severely impacted WWTPs in the area is the Wixom facility located downstream from automotive supplier Tribar Manufacturing.
Tribar used PFOS as a fume suppressant to protect workers around its chromium plating baths. In 2015, facing a federal deadline to stop using PFOS, Tribar switched to a different type of PFAS chemical.
Wixom had been distributing its biosolids to agricultural land under EGLE’s residuals management plan since 2000.
In 2018 EGLE ran tests at the facility as part of its statewide PFAS study and found that high levels of PFAS, specifically PFOS, were being passed through the treatment process at the plant. PFOS levels were 269 parts per trillion (ppt) in the effluent and 2,150 ppb in the biosolids.
When it was discovered that it was receiving contaminated effluent from Tribar and other local industries, EGLE in 2018 ordered Wixom to halt land applying its biosolids and they have been sent to a landfill ever since.
Tim Sikma, Wixom’s public works director said since 2018, his plant has worked with EGLE and its IPP and has been able to drastically reduce PFAS counts. It also hired a private environmental consultant company to remove forever chemicals from the one million gallons of heavily impacted wastewater sludge that were held onsite so that the treated water could eventually be discharged under the WWTP’s national pollutant discharge elimination system permit.
Currently, Wixom’s forever chemicals count meets or exceeds PFAS standards without requiring additional treatment because of EGLE’s IPP.
Overall, Sikma said regulating legacy pollutants, and what that can mean for the practice of land applying biosolids, remain a huge concern across the entire wastewater industry. That is why he is hopeful that regulators move in the direction of abating forever chemical uses at their sources and continue to research in enhancing abilities to remove and remediate forever chemicals from wastewater and biosolids.
By constantly testing and monitoring all phases of the wastewater cycle, Sikma believes the practice of applying biosolids can and should continue.
“If the regulations change so that we're no longer able to land apply biosolids as a whole, farming is going to become more expensive, and so is the treatment of solids from water resource recovery
facilities,” Sikma said “This is the concern across my industry. The analytical procedures we have now are so much better than they used to be. If we are scrupulous with our treatment, research, and testing at the industrial pretreatment and biosolid phases before they are applied on land, and if we are meeting the standards, that is what we are supposed to be doing. It makes sense not only at the wastewater side of things but for the farmers, who need the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium our biosolids can provide.”
That sentiment is not shared though by farmers who have been severely impacted by contaminated biosolids.
For decades, unchecked biosolids that were spread on farms caused contamination so acute in states like Maine and South Carolina that swaths of farmland can be considered federal Superfund contamination sites.
While the problem appears to be not as pervasive in Michigan, there is one impacted farm that can no longer be cultivated due to the presence of forever chemicals in its soil.
Cattle farmer Jason Grostic in Livingston County unknowingly received contaminated biosolids from Wixom. Now, his 400-acre farm, land his family has owned for over a century, has the distinction as the only one shut down by the state due to high PFAS contamination.
Grostic, his wife, and his children still live on the farm, which is going bankrupt. He wants to pass this farm down to his children. They care for the livestock the state bought for him at cost because he can no longer bring them to market for meat consumption. When he is not caring for his farm or his family, or raising money to pay his bills, he is actively speaking and raising awareness of the devastating effects of PFAS on agriculture.
In January 2022, EGLE determined that the cattle had consumed feed that had absorbed dangerous levels of PFAS that were detectible in beef samples taken from the farm’s freezer. Although the farm's beef results didn't fit current USDA criteria for a recall or market withdrawal, Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services determined that prolonged consumption of the beef from this farm could increase PFOS levels in the human body.
State agencies and Grostic notified customers who had recently purchased the meat, including a nearby elementary school.
Grostic said that he has received little to no financial support from the state outside of buying off the heads of cattle to take them out of the consumer market. Over the years he has filed a lawsuit against
Tribar Manufacturing for allowing heavy amounts of PFAS to contaminate the wastewater stream that headed to Wixom’s treatment plant.
“The state did not outright condemn my farm, but on my property, there is a sign that says we can no longer use our farm for agricultural purposes, to grow crops or cultivate livestock for human or animal consumption ever again,” Grostic said. “When they came to sample my soil for a study in 2019, they knew already that my land had been contaminated.”
He continued. “It took them three years to serve me a seizure notice. I knew it was going to be really bad when they next came to sample my beef. After a few Zoom meetings at the beginning of 2022, the state then washed its hands of me and walked away. They could care less.”
Jennifer Holton, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Rural Development, said her department works closely with MPART in supporting any farming sites that have been contaminated in the state and relies on the efforts done at the wastewater treatment level to protect soils on the farm. Holton said she could not comment further on the situation at Grostic Farms because the case is in litigation.
“In Michigan, we need a high quality of soil and water to support a strong agricultural economy,” Holton said. “When it comes to the issue of testing soils, we need stronger federal guidance. A lack of this guidance is a big hole in our plans to move forward.”
Grostic said though he is closed for business, he has opened his farm to PFAS researchers at Michigan State University.
Professor Emeritus Arthur Jones is the interim director of the MSU PFAS analytical laboratory, which is embarking on research projects with Grostic on forever chemical uptake in crops and livestock and how forever chemicals interact with soil.
Jones explained that there are currently no state or federal regulations for PFAS in soil and farmland. While drinking water regulations exist, agricultural lands remain largely unprotected. He said this regulatory gap became starkly evident through the case of Grostic’s farm.
Jones said his team of researchers is investigating how PFAS move from contaminated soil into crop plants and studying how to bind PFAS to the soil to reduce uptake into crops, especially leafy greens, and how livestock can go through “detox” to clear their systems of forever chemicals, evidence is showing that cattle can clear their systems of PFAS more quickly than humans.
“It was the fact that Michigan was so ahead of the game in monitoring and testing biosolids for PFAS that led the state to test his farm for it, and it’s a sad situation,” said Jones, whose son is a cattle rancher in California. “I think the regulators in Michigan were motivated by the right concerns, that they were in danger of the public consuming contaminated meat, but they shut his farm down without providing a solution.”
Jones is skeptical that Grostic’s farm is the only one that received impacted biosolids but the state legislature is not calling for additional tracing.
“Grostic’s farm is not the only farm that could have received these biosolids,” Jones mused. “And if that’s the case, where did it all go?”
According to data from EGLE, in 2015, 21 percent of the biosolids were land-applied in Michigan with 42 percent landfilled and 28 percent incinerated.
In 2017, the year before the state initiated its IPP program and began testing biosolids for PFOS, 43 percent of the biosolids were land-applied instate and 11 percent were exported to Canada. That was when applying biosolids in Michigan was at its height.
By 2024, percentages of land-applied biosolids were trending up again with 32 percent of biosolids applied to land in Michigan and 24 percent of its land applied out of state.
The MSU Cooperative Extension staff has hosted listening tours with concerned Michigan farmers, according to Jones.
Some are confidentially having their soils and water tested at MSU laboratories. Overall, Jones and EGLE officials said because of the global food market, and because that biosolids are spread on farmland all over the world, the problem is very hard to pinpoint. Most of us are already walking around with forever chemicals in our blood.
And for now, most in the state’s $125.8 billion agricultural industry that provides the economy with 800,000 jobs are making sure their lands remain economically viable.
“Most farmers are a skeptical bunch as it is,” Jones said. “They certainly don't want the state to come in and test for the soil with the prospect that their farm could get shut down too without having a solution for what to do about it.”
Most environmental advocate organizations give a nod of approval to Michigan’s efforts to head off PFAS contamination of biosolids at the source. However, they say there is still more aggressive work that needs to be done to eliminate the presence of forever chemicals in manufacturing
and commercial products and processes to avoid these chemicals from getting into the environment in the first place.
Cheryl Vosburg is executive director of the Michigan Water Environment Association (MWEA), which advocates for robust and clear state and federal policies that emphasize source reduction as the most effective way to address PFAS contamination while providing training and support to water utilities in their mission to safeguard public health.
Her organization believes the state’s IPP program is only the start in PFAS remediation from biosolids and the environment in general.
“The industrial pretreatment and removal technologies are not the complete answer,” Vosburg said. “We are advocating for removing these chemicals from the manufacturing processes and more immediately product labeling so consumers can know when they are buying something that contains PFAS.”
When it is done properly, Vosburg said MWEA supports applying biosolids on farmland and works to dispel misconceptions about the practice.
"Nobody wants what happened at Grostic Farms to happen anywhere else," Vosberg said. "We all produce biosolids, and they have to go somewhere. Landfills are running out of space and are reluctant to accept liquid waste, while incineration is energy-intensive and expensive. The state’s industrial pre-treatment programs have significantly reduced PFAS levels entering wastewater treatment systems.”
On the other end of the spectrum is the threeyear-old New England nonprofit Just Zero which believes all biosolids should be diverted to lined landfills for disposal.
“There was a public relations campaign a while back to come up with a new name for treated sewerage sludge and they picked the term biosolids,” said Laura Orlando, a senior scientist working with Just Zero.
Raised on a family farm in Benton Harbor, Mich., Orlando remembers sludge being spread on nearby farms on cold winter days, though her family opted out of receiving land applications. A faculty member at the Boston University School of Public Health since 1993 where she has for decades focused on wastewater health, Orlando said that Michigan's thresholds for PFAS in biosolids are too high. Also, by only going after two of the thousands of forever chemicals that have been pumped into the consumer and industrial market, Orlando said EGLE and MDARD are giving
the public a false sense of safety.
Instead, Orlando favors a complete ban on land application of biosolids as practiced in Maine. There, the state has also put aside a fund to compensate for the livelihood of impacted farmers.
“Spreading biosolids poisons soil, food and people," Orlando said. "Michigan's program by going after only two out of thousands of kinds of forever chemicals is not protective of water quality, soil health, human health, or wildlife."
Orlando criticized MDARD’s reluctance to look and monitor for PFAS on farmland compared to Maine’s efforts, which include a $100 million fund to aid farmers with contaminated land.
“That’s because when you start looking, you are going to find appalling levels of forever chemicals wherever the sludge has been spread,” Orlando said.
Back at his farm, Grostic said that not only has he lost his livelihood as a farmer, but he has also lost connections with the tight-knit community of farmers nearby. He knows of a few farms that are still using biosolids, but he said they would never allow the government to take soil samples as he voluntarily did.
“Technically I am not a farmer anymore, so I am no longer in that circle,” Grostic said. “The few farming friends I have left, we just don’t talk about farming anymore; we talk about life.”
Grostic has connected with groups like Just Zero and farmers in Maine who share a common plight of having a non-working farm. There is talk in Maine of researching what crops are less likely to absorb PFAS. While leafy green crops have a high absorption rate of PFAS, crops like corn and maybe wheat are slow to uptake the chemicals, he said.
He is also working on research projects with Myconaut, a Northern Michigan biotech startup using fungi to remove PFAS from soil. They are exploring the potential of mycoremediation, where certain mushrooms and other fungi can break down these toxic chemicals.
In 2024, Myconaut received a $275,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and funds will go toward expanding the lab and its research staff.
Grostic with Myconaut is planting three acres of fiber hemp treated with microorganisms designed to break down forever chemicals.
“This is the second research project I am doing with this lab, and I am highly encouraged by the results they are seeing so far,” said Grostic. “Maybe, in 10 years time, we’ll have the ground cleaned up again.”
THREATENED PLANET
Threatened Planet is a newsletter of curated information gleaned from over 30 print and online news sources where reliable information is provided on the health of the environment and the efforts to remedy problems facing the planet. We constantly monitor a diverse list of sources – the major daily newspapers in the country and in Europe, a variety of scientific journals and government websites, along with newsletters from environmental groups, as well as a wide-ranging list of other reliable print and online news outlets. For those concerned about the environment, we do the legwork by aggregating relevant information from a wide swath of sources and attempt to offer links mostly to those sources not restricted by a paywall. Those interested can sign up for the newsletter at ThreatenedPlanet.com.
Research and composition of the Threatened Planet newsletter is the work of Austen Hohendorf.
The new budget bill passed the House that would end the EV tax credit and repeal other clean energy tax credits and programs. (Margot Sanger-Katz, Andrew Duehren, Brad Plumer, Tony Romm, Catie Edmondson/The New York Times)
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Scientists are discovering plastic may be heating the Earth more than we realized. (Nicolas Rivero/The Washington Post)
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A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must restore $176 million in community environmental grants to six cities and more than a dozen nonprofits across the United States. (Cristen Hemingway Jaynes/EcoWatch)
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The Justice Department is suing Michigan for its planned legal actions against fossil fuel companies for contributing to the climate crisis. (Nate Redman/Reuters)
The Trump Administration used emergency wartime powers to order a Michigan coal-burning power plant to remain open, aborting the original plan to shut down.(Jeff St. John/Canary Media)
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A new study finds homeowners of color in the U.S. are disproportionately vulnerable to climate risks compared with white homeowners. (Samantha Latson/The New York Times)
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Climate change could drive a 30 percent surge in foreclosures and lender losses by 2035, according to a new study. (Mary Cunningham/CBS News)
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An analysis finds Colorado oil and gas companies have pumped chemicals into the ground without legally disclosing it. (Joe Fassler/The Guardian)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorologists predict an above average hurricane season in the Atlantic with more storm activity than typical. (Evan Bush/NBC News)
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In an annual update of the state of the world’s forests, researchers share the planet lost a record amount of forests last year driven by wildfires. (Hiroko Tabuchi, Harry Stevens/The New York Times
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After nine years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lifted its emergency order on drinking water in Flint. (Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance)
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A new law was passed in Florida to ban the addition of fluoride to public water supplies. (Alana Wise/NPR)
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Air-quality monitoring programs were temporarily suspended at national parks across the country by the Trump administration. (Maxine Joselow/The Washington Post)
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The Trump Administration is planning to eliminate the longstanding Energy Star program that certifies energy efficient appliances and provides tax credits to bring down consumer costs. (Annie Grayer, Ella Nilsen/CNN)
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Studies show microplastic pollution exposure is making bees more susceptible to bacteria and viruses, ultimately affecting plant pollination (Marta Zaraska/The Washington Post)
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A new analysis shows the majority of major U.S. cities - including Detroit - are significantly sinking in large part due to groundwater pumping. (Mira Rojanasakul/The New York Times)
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Nearly all newly constructed homes in the United Kingdom will be required to install rooftop solar panels. (Paige Bennett/EcoWatch)
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The world’s biggest corporations have caused $28 trillion in climate damage, a new study estimates. (Seth Borenstein/The Associated Press)
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In a landmark settlement, chemical giant 3M has agreed to pay up to $450 million to the state of New Jersey for decades-long groundwater contamination from “forever chemical” PFAs. (Rambo Talabong/Inside Climate News)
METRO INTELLIGENCER
Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro Intelligencer is reported/ created each month by Gigi Nichols who can be reached at GigiNichols@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record.
Franklin Village welcomes new eateries
After extensive renovations to the historic structure built in 1848, The Franklin Oyster Bar & Eatery plans to open on June 10 in Franklin Village. The Franklin, which blends the aesthetic of Charleston with the ambiance of Napa, is led by Executive Chef Nick Geftos, who crafts the culinary vision, and Gerti Begaj, who oversees the hospitality program. As the team behind the award-winning BESA Detroit, they bring their expertise and passion to create an exceptional dining experience. “The Franklin offers an inviting dining experience that goes beyond seafood,” Geftos said. “While fresh seafood like our raw oyster bar is a highlight, the menu also features premium steaks, pasta, burgers, expertly crafted dishes and an elevated weekend brunch, ensuring a well-rounded selection for all guests.” Jay Farner, founder of Ronin Capital Partners, acquired the property in 2024, and Nicole McGrail, led the design, concept and restoration of the historic red carriage house through Thyme and Place Hospitality, the newly formed hospitality division of Ronin Capital Partners. As part of McGrail’s exciting vision, Thyme and Place Hospitality will soon launch Polly’s, a neighborhood café coming directly next door to The Franklin at 32750 Franklin Road. Polly’s will offer a scenic outdoor back patio, shared with The Franklin, creating a serene spot to relax and dine al fresco. “It’s not just any café,” McGrail said. “Polly’s will offer a wide selection of pastries, hearty sandwiches, crisp salads, savory charcuterie, and treats, all complemented by freshly brewed coffee. And with rich, handcrafted ice cream ideal for summer, it’s a refreshing destination for warm summer days. Whether you’re grabbing a quick bite or lingering over a relaxing cup of espresso, Polly’s will provide a wonderful setting for getting energized, recharged, or simply taking a break.” 32760 Franklin Road, Franklin thefranklinmi.com
Slows coming to Berkley
Downtown Berkley dropped some mouthwatering news on their Facebook page, teasing, “Get your napkins ready, Berkley. Something slow-cooked and delicious is on its way.” The big reveal? Detroit’s legendary Slows Bar BQ is coming to town, bringing its iconic flavors to the heart of Berkley. The new Slows location, in the previous Berkley Common space at 3087 Twelve Mile Roa, will feature fullservice dining downstairs; a future patio/parklet on Griffith Avenue and a second-floor space for private events and catering. “With strong roots in the community — co-owner Josh Keillor grew up in Royal Oak and attended Shrine High School alongside fellow co-owners Brian and Terry Perrone — this expansion truly feels like a homecoming,” shared Downtown Berkley. The Slows Bar BQ flagship
location in Corktown will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in September Over the years,Slows Bar BQ became famous for putting a gourmet spin on barbecue cooked fresh every day, and for its dedication to community.The restaurant has appeared on Adam Richman’s Man vs. Food and the “Yardbird” sandwich was featured in the first season of Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America. Slows has also been featured on other national television shows and in publications, including the Food Network (top places to eat) and The New York Times. Watch for the Berkley Slows location to be open sometime this fall. 3087 12 Mile Road slowsbarbq.com
A ramen experience
When guests step into Royal Oak’s newest culinary destination, JINYA Ramen Bar, they’re greeted with an enthusiastic “Irasshai!”— a traditional Japanese welcome cheerfully echoed by the entire staff. This marks JINYA’s first location in Michigan, expanding the Los Angelesbased brand’s growing presence, with over 70 restaurants across the U.S. and Canada. Located at 129 S. Main Street, the new restaurant will serve JINYA’s acclaimed ramen, featuring broths simmered for 20 hours to develop rich, complex flavors. Guests can also enjoy traditional Japanese rice bowls, small plates, and an array of authentic ramen toppings. “Bringing JINYA to Michigan has been a long time coming, and we couldn’t think of a better place to start than Royal Oak,” said JINYA CEO Tomo Takahashi. “The city has an incredible food scene, and we’re excited to introduce our signature ramen to the community. We can’t wait for locals to experience the flavors and quality that make JINYA special.” Guests can savor slow-simmered, thick, and flavorful broths perfectly paired with handcrafted noodles. Toppings like tender pork chashu, shrimp wonton and seasoned eggs add depth to every bowl, while inventive cocktails, craft beers and wine selections complete the dining experience. 129 S. Main Street, Royal Oak jinyaramenbar.com
Street Beet’s brick and mortar
Led by owner and chef Meghan Shaw, Street Beet, the popular plant-based comfort food pop-up, is preparing to take over the former Bobcat Bonnie’s space in Corktown. Street Beet will continue serving its signature fast-foodinspired vegan dishes at Third Street Bar in Detroit until the transition to the new location is complete — expected sometime this summer. Eva Guillen will step in as general manager, while Mary “Lou” Hammer takes on the role of pastry/sous chef, crafting fresh pastries and adding her special touch to the menu. Once open, the eatery will serve breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, seven days a week. Plans include a full-service dining experience, a walk-up window for quick bites, an innovative bar program featuring mocktails, and a brand-new in-house bakery and a vibrant third-space vibe, complete with game nights, live DJs, and a multifunctional community hub. Another new
addition at the Corktown location is Washed Up Coffee, offering a curated multi-roaster coffee program with exceptional beans sourced from top roasters around the globe. Launching alongside Street Beet’s breakfast service, Washed Up Coffee brings fresh flavors to Detroit’s already thriving coffee scene. The space has been designed as a welcoming spot for work, relaxation and community connection. 1800 Michigan Avenue, Detroit
Award-winning restaurant shutters
Exactly one year ago, chef Hajime Sato was on stage accepting the coveted James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes. With little notice to his customers, his Clawson restaurant Sozai has permanently closed. Sato made a statement on Instagram stating “After an extended time of reflection, it is clear that the best thing for my family is for us to return to the Pacific Northwest,” reads his statement. “It will be extremely difficult to leave Sozai behind. I put everything I had into building something special for my customers and to further my work as a sustainable seafood advocate. Thank you to everyone who has shared wonderful times with me at Sozai. I will cherish those memories. My sincerest hope is that you will continue to try new things!” Sato, who was born and raised in Japan, is a champion for sustainable seafood. Before moving to the Detroit area, he owned an award-winning Seattle restaurant, Mashiko, and became one of the first sushi chefs to commit to using only sustainable seafood. Today, Sato estimates only about 10 restaurants in the entire nation are truly dedicated to utilizing sustainable sushi. After opening Sozai in 2021, Sato was asked about his commitment to sustainable seafood. With unmistakable passion in his voice, he replied, “When people ask why, I say why not! Everyone should be doing it. It’s responsible. It’s done to protect our oceans and save us from global warming.”
Make way for Little Ghost
Four Man Ladder Hospitality, the team behind Grey Ghost, Second Best, and Basan, announced the name of their newest fast-casual concept: Little Ghost, set to open this summer in Ferndale. Located at 22305 Woodward Avenue, the nearly 1,000-square-foot space marks the group’s first foray into the fast-casual dining scene. Little Ghost will offer a focused, scratch-made menu highlighting the team’s beloved burger, chicken sandwich, and signature sides. Designed with efficiency and bold flavor in mind, the concept will primarily cater to takeout customers. “We’re really excited to bring this new project to life,” says chef and co-owner Joe Giacomino. “The Grey Ghost burger has built quite a loyal following - we’re thrilled to be able to offer it in a playful new way in Oakland County.” This new venture represents an exciting chapter for Four Man Ladder Hospitality, led by chefs Joe Giacomino and John Vermiglio, along with partners Will Lee and Michael Gray. The team sees Little Ghost as the first of additional locations. The restaurant will be open daily and will offer local delivery and catering services for large parties and events. Construction is currently underway, with a grand opening planned for early summer. More details will be announced as the project nears completion. 22305 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale
A) Oxford Multi includes: Cedar, Clear, Long, Squaw, Michelson & Tan Lakes
B) Waterford Multi includes: Cemetery(Middle), Dollar, Greens, Maceday, Lotus, Lester, Van Norman, Williams, Mohawk, Wormer, Schoolhouse, Silver, Upper Silver & Loon Lakes
C) The Loon Lake control structure also controls Mohawk, Wormer, Schoolhouse Silver & Upper Silver Lakes
D) The Van Norman control structure also controls Green, Maceday, Lotus & Lester Lakes
E) Lake Angelus, Huron River, and Clinton River levels are not under the jurisdiction of this office
F) The Dawson Mill Pond and Sylvan-Otter Lakes are controlled by the Price Dam
G) Crystal Lake is controlled by the Walter Moore Dam
H) Lake Louise and Huff Lake are controlled by the Ruth Johnson Dam
I) Waumegah Lake reading in N.G.V.D (1983)
J) Some Winter Levels are set by Court Order. Others reflects customary drawdown
