Parchment, Michigan is a village of about 1,800 people near Kalamazoo. In the summer of 2018, it became a national cautionary tale when PFAS testing revealed contamination so severe that the entire village water system had to be shut down and replaced.
PFAS levels in Parchment’s water reached 1,587 parts per trillion — more than 22 times the EPA’s 70 ppt health advisory level at the time. Every well serving the village was contaminated. Bottled water was distributed. Emergency connections were made. And residents learned that the water they’d been drinking for years was laced with forever chemicals.
The Source: Georgia-Pacific’s Legacy
Parchment’s name comes from the paper industry — the village was originally built around the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company, which later became part of Georgia-Pacific. The paper manufacturing operations used PFAS-containing chemicals in the production process.
Waste from the paper mill was disposed of in an unlined landfill on the property. Over decades, PFAS leached from the waste into the groundwater. The contamination plume migrated through the aquifer and reached the village’s municipal wells.
Georgia-Pacific had ceased paper manufacturing at the Parchment site before the contamination was discovered, but the waste left behind continued releasing PFAS into the ground.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) identified the former paper mill disposal area as the primary source of PFAS in Parchment’s groundwater. Testing of monitoring wells near the site confirmed PFAS concentrations orders of magnitude higher than what was reaching the village wells — meaning the plume was diluting as it traveled, and the source area was even worse.
The Emergency Response
When test results came back in July 2018, the response was swift:
Day one: The state issued a do-not-drink advisory for all Parchment water customers. The National Guard was deployed to distribute bottled water.
First week: The city of Kalamazoo agreed to supply water to Parchment through an emergency connection to its municipal system. Temporary piping was laid to connect the two systems.
Following months: The temporary connection was made permanent. Parchment’s own wells were taken offline — all of them — and the village was connected to Kalamazoo’s water supply, which draws from Lake Michigan.
The village’s entire water system was effectively abandoned. This wasn’t a case of one contaminated well that could be shut down while others kept producing. Every source was compromised.
What Made Parchment Different
Parchment stands out in the PFAS story for a few reasons:
Complete system failure. Most PFAS contamination stories involve one or two wells in a larger system. Parchment lost everything. The village had no backup.
Non-military source. While much of the national PFAS conversation has focused on military AFFF, Parchment’s contamination came from industrial paper manufacturing. It demonstrated that PFAS contamination is not just a DoD problem.
Speed of response. Michigan’s response was fast once the contamination was confirmed. The state had been sensitized by PFAS discoveries elsewhere in Michigan (including Rockford and Oscoda) and didn’t wait to act.
Small community vulnerability. A village of 1,800 doesn’t have the resources, engineering staff, or financial reserves to handle a water crisis. Parchment depended entirely on state support and the cooperation of neighboring Kalamazoo.
Health Exposure
Parchment’s residents were exposed to PFAS-contaminated water for an unknown duration before the 2018 discovery. The paper mill operated for decades, and PFAS contamination of the groundwater likely predated the testing by years.
Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services offered blood testing to Parchment residents. Results showed elevated PFAS blood serum levels consistent with chronic exposure through drinking water.
The health effects of PFAS exposure — cancer risk, thyroid disruption, immune suppression, cholesterol elevation, reproductive effects — are all relevant to Parchment’s population. The long half-life of PFAS compounds means that even though exposure has stopped, the chemicals remain in residents’ bodies for years.
For a small community, the health monitoring challenge is significant. Parchment doesn’t have a hospital. Residents rely on regional healthcare providers who may or may not be familiar with PFAS exposure management.
Accountability and Cleanup
Georgia-Pacific has been identified as the responsible party. Michigan EGLE has issued orders requiring investigation and remediation of the contamination source.
The cleanup involves:
- Source characterization — mapping the extent of PFAS contamination in soil and groundwater at the former disposal site
- Containment — preventing further migration of the contamination plume
- Monitoring — ongoing testing of groundwater throughout the affected area
- Potential remediation — treatment or removal of contaminated soils and groundwater at the source
The cleanup will take years. PFAS doesn’t biodegrade under normal environmental conditions, and the contamination is deep in the aquifer. In the meantime, the permanent connection to Kalamazoo’s water system provides safe drinking water.
Michigan’s Broader PFAS Problem
Parchment is part of Michigan’s larger PFAS reckoning. The state has identified PFAS contamination at hundreds of sites, including:
- Oscoda/Wurtsmith AFB — AFFF contamination from the former Air Force base
- Rockford/Wolverine World Wide — industrial PFAS waste contaminating residential wells
- Kent County — widespread PFAS in groundwater from multiple sources
- Numerous landfills and industrial sites across the state
Michigan has been among the most proactive states in addressing PFAS, establishing some of the first state-level MCLs and conducting extensive statewide testing. The state’s PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) coordinates investigation and response efforts.
Michigan’s MCLs for PFAS (effective 2020) include:
- PFOA: 8 ppt
- PFOS: 16 ppt
- PFHxS: 51 ppt
- PFNA: 6 ppt
- PFHxA: 400,000 ppt
- PFBS: 420 ppt
- GenX: 370 ppt
These are among the strictest in the nation and drove the state’s aggressive testing and response programs.
What Residents Can Do Today
Parchment’s water now comes from Kalamazoo’s Lake Michigan supply, which is treated and meets all state and federal standards. The PFAS issue is resolved at the tap.
However, some practical steps remain:
If you have a private well in the Parchment area that isn’t connected to the municipal system, don’t assume it’s safe. The contamination plume may extend beyond the village’s original well field. Get it tested through Michigan EGLE’s PFAS testing program.
If you were a long-term Parchment resident and haven’t had blood testing, consider it. PFAS blood levels, while not clinically actionable in most cases, can inform health monitoring decisions with your doctor.
Report concerns about water quality or suspected contamination sources to Michigan EGLE. The state’s PFAS response is active and responsive to new information.
If you’re concerned about your water quality, a certified water treatment professional can test your water and recommend treatment options matched to whatever contaminants are present.
The Takeaway
Parchment is proof that a small community’s entire water supply can be rendered unusable by a single contamination source. The village had no redundancy, no treatment capacity for PFAS, and no way to know the water was contaminated until state testing programs caught it.
The lesson for small water systems everywhere: PFAS is not just a big-city or military-base problem. If your community’s water comes from groundwater, and there’s industrial history anywhere in the watershed, testing is the only way to know what you’re drinking.
Sources: Michigan EGLE PFAS response records, Michigan DHHS blood testing program, EPA ECHO database, Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), Kalamazoo/Parchment water interconnection documentation.