State officials call for more funding to address chemical plume in Antrim County

A trichloroethylene plume left behind by a Mancelona industrial plant in the 1960s is still spreading through Antrim County groundwater, now stretching 6.7 miles long and a mile and a half wide. State and local officials say they want to expand municipal water access for residents in its path rather than attempt a cleanup, which they say is too costly.

Michigan has spent roughly $32 million over two decades on monitoring, mapping, and water hookups, and is now seeking additional funding for the fall. More than 500 wells have tested positive for the chemical, and affected homeowners get bottled water in the meantime, described by officials themselves as a temporary fix rather than a solution.

The plume moves several hundred feet a year, and officials say they plan to add monitoring near Shanty Creek to catch further migration before it happens. TCE has already shown up in the Cedar River at levels experts call safe for swimming, which is the sort of reassurance that only exists because the alternative was worse.

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