The City of Lowell owned and operated a landfill which accepted municipal waste from the mid-1950's to the mid-1970's.  In 1983 the State of Michigan shut down the landfill and in 1987, 3 monitoring wells were placed on the site by the State of Michigan to determine if there were volatile organic compounds (VOC's) in the groundwater.  At the time, levels of very low concentrations  of Tetrachloroethylene, Dichloromethane and Carbon Tetrachloride were found in the groundwater.  Once this was determined in the late 1980's no action was taken by the State of Michigan or the City of Lowell.

In Spring of 2019, the Michigan Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) notified the City of Lowell that we must begin developing a work plan to monitor ground water near the site for potential contaminants.  The City immediately began working on this plan.  

In addition to the three monitoring wells previously installed by EGLE, the City installed nine new monitoring wells in October 2019 at the site. Sampling of the groundwater found very low concentrations of a solvent-type chemical (perchloroethylene), only slightly above state criteria used for protection of drinking water; however, this chemical has not been identified within the drinking water aquifer. Consistent with prior work by EGLE, groundwater flow was verified to be away from any type of potable use mitigating potential homeowner exposure sourced from the former landfill. 

The City plans to continue to work with EGLE to ensure all appropriate measures are undertaken to protect the community from potential exposure.

The following reports are available for review.