"Wyandotte GLWA Connection"

We hope that it is, but are not certain that it is.   

There are limited water tests conducted 4x a year and they have all been “non-detect” which seems good, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Only a short list of regulated chemicals are being tested for, while non-regulated chemicals of concern are not being tested for, such as napthalene. 

The tremendous volume of water the pollution is mixed within the Detroit River makes finding the chemicals in a small sample virtually impossible-- a true needle in the haystack. 

We know that absence of evidence doesn’t equate to safety. The risk of contamination around the Wyandotte intake (the area designated as a Critical Assessment Zone (CAZ)) was determined to be “Significantly At Risk” according to the Wyandotte Source Water Report published in 2004 by the Federal and State Governments as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

Yes. BASF Wyandotte is currently in violation of numerous State and Federal Environmental Laws, including Parts 31, 201 and 111 of PA451, as well as the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA). BASF is also currently in violation of 5 Court/Administrative Orders related to their groundwater contamination, outfall contamination into the Detroit River/Wyandotte Critical Assessment Zone (CAZ), as well as air quality violations.

That answer will be addressed as part of a feasibility assessment. Wyandotte residents should ask Wyandotte City Council to request the feasibility assessment information from GLWA. Having this information is the only way residents can make an informed decision about the source of their drinking water.

Well, actually it's more like 80 years since this 1947 Detroit Free Press article about how BASF's pollution has an impact on Downriver's "health and welfare". 

We say 50 years in reference to the State Orders to remediate the pollution, linked in question 5.

in 1980 a Michigan State toxicologist issued a statement of concern, requesting flow studies of BASF's groundwater as well as cancer screening for Wyandotte citizens. These requests were made based on the known contamination leaving the BASF site into the area of the Wyandotte intake. 

USEPA had this to say about BASFs contamination and Wyandotte's Drinking Water.   LINK

There are a lot of ways to answer that question. 

The State of Michigan and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) combined have at least 4 Court/Administrative Orders with BASF to stop the release of the contaminated groundwater and outfall discharges going into the Detroit River. These orders are supposed to be the State pushing for change, but adequate enforcement of these orders has not come to fruition.

 
Here's a link to the 1980 order
Here's the 1985 order
The 1994 order is found here
And finally the 2026 order is here.

The State of Michigan nor the USEPA have enforced the orders against BASF to stop the pollution. Our lived reality is that BASF has been allowed to continue with their pollution without taking action to stop their pollution practices. BASF has steadily, for 50 years, developed plan after plan for how they'll stop the pollution in the future, all while continuing to pollute. Those future dates come and pass, and the pollution continues. 57 gallons per minute, 80,000 gallons per day, straight into the Critical Assessment Zone (CAZ) of the Wyandotte water intake.

Why has the state allowed BASF's inaction and continued pollution of Wyandotte's Critical Assessment Zone? The answer is unclear. 

It saves them money. That's it, that's the entire reason. 

A hazardous waste expert provided a low end estimated cost of $10 per gallon to treat hazardous waste water in Michigan. EGLE estimates that BASF's contaminated groundwater flows at a rate of 57 gallons per minute into the Critical Assessment Zone (CAZ) of Wyandotte's water intake. 

This means that BASF is saving approximately $295,000,000 each year by allowing the contaminated water to flow into the Detroit River instead of capturing and treating that water.

Please understand that there are many factors that influece the development of environmentally-related conditions/diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, asthma, type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's, poor fetal health, miscarriages, etc., source article. 

A person likely won't develop a such a condition based on a single exposure to harmful chemicals. However there will be increased odds of developing disease with increased exposures and other complicating health factors. This concept of overlapping contributing factors has been illustrated by the "Swiss Cheese Model" of disease development, see Understanding the "Swiss Cheese Model". 

Exposures to chemicals can activate gene mutations in certain people, while other people won't have that gene activation even with the same exposure. It is well known that the people most vulnerable to health risks associated with chemical exposures are children, pregnant women, elderly, and sick individuals. 

People not experiencing health effects due to chemical exposures is not the same as those chemical exposures being harmless. 

Additional Web recources can be found at:  https://sites.google.com/view/foias-basf-dtr/home

This current design plan to address the issues of pollution is at least the 5th design plan proposed by BASF to the State or EPA. BASF has been developing these design plans since 1980, all while still continuing to pollute the Wyandotte CAZ and all while still making billions of dollars in profit. 

Yes! And BASF wasn't one of them. 

Yes, there have actually been 3 State employee whistleblowers regarding the BASF Wyandotte pollution. A whistleblower is an insider, such as an employee or former worker, who reports illegal, unethical, or dangerous activities within a private or public organization. Whistleblowers are protected by Michigan's Act 469 for coming forth and exposing corruption or illegal activity.