​The Army National Guard outlined its continued commitment to the health of the Grayling community.  Accordingly the ARNG is following the procedures required under CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.  That being; Preliminary Assessment, Site Inspection, Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, Proposed Plan, Decision Document, Remedial Design, and Remedial Action.  The ARNG is currently soliciting interested persons to sit on a “Restoration Advisory Board” which will be formed this upcoming summer.  Anyone interested in being a part of this board is asked to contact Captain Pam Hess at 703-601-6818 or Bonnie Packer at 703-607-7977.
 
To date, 447 residential wells around Lake Margrethe have been tested with 384 non-detects, 61 below 70 ppt (FFOA plus PFOS) and 2 above 70 ppt.  Late last summer, the DEQ had 14 monitoring wells drilled off Borchers Way in the Southeast corner of the Lake.  To date 14 samples from those wells have been analyzed.  Of the 14 samples, 4 were non-detect, 7 were below the 70 ppt criteria, and 3 were above 70 ppt.  The DEQ is following up with more analysis and sampling of these monitoring wells and additional information will be provided at the next community meeting, sometime in the spring of 2019.
 
Lake Margrethe surface water and foam were tested by the MDEQ in 2018.  There were 15 surface water samples analyzed with 0 non-detect,  11 below 12 ppt, and 4 above 12 ppt. The Army National Guard outlined its continued commitment to the health of the Grayling community.  Accordingly the ARNG is following the procedures required under CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.  That being; Preliminary Assessment, Site Inspection, Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, Proposed Plan, Decision Document, Remedial Design, and Remedial Action.  The ARNG is currently soliciting interested persons to sit on a “Restoration Advisory Board” which will be formed this upcoming summer.  Anyone interested in being a part of this board is asked to contact Captain Pam Hess at 703-601-6818 or Bonnie Packer at 703-607-7977.
 
To date, 447 residential wells around Lake Margrethe have been tested with 384 non-detects, 61 below 70 ppt (FFOA plus PFOS) and 2 above 70 ppt.  Late last summer, the DEQ had 14 monitoring wells drilled off Borchers Way in the Southeast corner of the Lake.  To date 14 samples from those wells have been analyzed.  Of the 14 samples, 4 were non-detect, 7 were below the 70 ppt criteria, and 3 were above 70 ppt.  The DEQ is following up with more analysis and sampling of these monitoring wells and additional information will be provided at the next community meeting, sometime in the spring of 2019.
 
Lake Margrethe surface water and foam were tested by the MDEQ in 2018.  There were 15 surface water samples analyzed with 0 non-detect , 11 below 12 ppt, and 4 above 12 ppt. (PFOS greater than 12 ppt is MDEQ criteria). They also analyzed 15 foam samples, with 0 non-detect.  All 15 foam samples had varying levels of PFOS however the MDEQ has not yet developed a detection criteria level for foam.
 
With regards to the Grayling Airfield, 677 samples have been tested, 445 were non-detect, 215 were below 70 ppt and 7 were above 70 ppt.
 
More information can be obtained by contacting Randy Rothe, District Supervisor for the MDEQ at 989-705-3416. 
They also analyzed 15 foam samples, with 0 non-detect.  All 15 foam samples had varying levels of PFOS however the MDEQ has not yet developed a detection criteria level for foam.
 
With regards to the Grayling Airfield, 677 samples have been tested, 445 were non-detect, 215 were below 70 ppt and 7 were above 70 ppt.
 
More information can be obtained by contacting Randy Rothe, District Supervisor for the MDEQ at 989-705-3416. 

Thanks to John Alef for submitting this report!!!!

This is an email that was just sent out to members who have given us their email addresses:

Our property owners' association (LMPOA) has over 50 years of experience representing the interests of property owners and friends of Lake Margrethe.  It has helped maintain water quality, managed the Portage Creek dam and its impact on water levels, promoted safe boating, liaised with the military and governmental offices regarding the lake and its environs, and in the last few years, mounted a major effort to counteract the effects of invasive species (mainly Eurasian Water Milfoil) with the annual approval of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Has Something Changed? 
Yes.  The DEQ now requires all waterfront property owners to provide written approval for any group, association, or individual to add chemicals, of any kind, to lakes and streams in Michigan.  This new rule may be long overdue given our recent experience with fire retardants and the like.  However, your property owners' association is faced with the mostly impossible task of securing the written approval of more than 300 lakefront owners as well as those with deeded access to the lake each time it is necessary to treat a new patch of milfoil.  Then too, there are other projects undertaken by the association involving the upkeep of the dam and water levels, so important to all of us.
 
What Options Do We Have?

• Secure written approval of all lakefront owners each time we need to treat the lake with approved milfoil management chemicals.  Probably not feasible.
• Establish a Special Assessment District (SAD) within Grayling Township for the ongoing maintenance and benefit of one of the area's most important assets, Lake Margrethe.  The LMPOA board has discussed this option with the Township and Camp Grayling officials as well as other lake property associations and found it to be a worthwhile undertaking for all concerned.

What Are the Key Steps to A SAD?

1. First, we have to have all names and addresses of individual lake-front owners (which we have) and groups or individuals with deeded lakefront property (which we do not have).

 

1. A formal hearing will be scheduled with the township.  Everyone in the proposed special assessment district (SAD) will receive prior notice of the hearing.  At the hearing, everyone can express his or her opinion about the proposed special assessment district, both “pro” and “con.” After the hearing, the municipality has the option of either turning down or adopting the SAD.
2. If the SAD is adopted, a second hearing will be scheduled to confirm the SAD roll- that is, to verify which properties will be located within the SAD and the cost per property/ unit.

NOTE:  We already have the cooperation of township officials.
 
What Should I Do?

1. Send any info. you have regarding group owners & deeded access property owners to Sandra Michalik (sandralmichalik@gmail.com) 
2. AND PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Below is a document provided to LMPOA by PLM (the lake management company we have worked with for years).  It outlines the steps that we are following.  All questions/ concerns will be addressed during the process.

 

Beginning the week of October 8, 2018, DEQ will fly a drone to verify locations of potential seeps/springs identified during the drone flight in September 2018.  Once the locations are verified, GPS coordinates will be taken, and samples collected.  There will be two boats; one flying the drone and the second actually sampling.  We are using bicycle flags to mark locations to sample so if you see these in the water please leave them alone.  They are removed by sampling team as the collect the sample at the marked locations. We expect this to take 2-4 days, weather dependent.
 
This data will be used to provide “layers” to maps, which will allow us to compare data from residential wells, surface water and foam data, samples from 14-monitoring wells in 5-different locations along Borcher’s Way, and the seep/spring data.  This will help us identify areas on land where to focus future sampling efforts.
 
We have notified local officials, law enforcement including the DNR, Camp Grayling and the Grayling Air Traffic Control Tower, whom we will be in contact with during flight operations.
 
We anticipate 6-8 weeks to get results back.
 
Thanks for all the help!
 
Best
 
Randy Rothe, DEQ
D: 989-705-3416
C: 989-217-0083

Please follow the procedures for reporting foam outlined by Randy Rothe, DEQ below:
 
FOAM REPORTING – LAKE MARGRETHE
Please email pictures of foam to rother@michigan.gov and macdonaldL1@michigan.gov
Please provide date, time and location (address is easiest or major land mark, road end, etc.)
Also, if on private property, please provide permission to come onto the property and look for foam and sample if it is there.
AECOM, our contractor, will sample.  It takes six 1-gallon zip lock baggies to gather enough foam so when it condenses back into water there is enough to analyze.  The specific baggies, gloves, and all equipment have been sampled and verified PFAS free.
AECOM tries to eliminate any possible source of PFAS cross-contamination while sampling.  Also, if any lake water is collected with the foam, it significantly dilutes the foam sample, so we do not get a good test result.  AECOM also collects a water sample near the foam, so we can see if there is any correlation of PFAS in the water with PFAS in foam.
We do not encourage people to gather foam since the collection and testing protocol is very specific and sensitive.  We are dealing with parts-per-trillion (ppt).  1 ppt = 0.000000001.
We typically do not sample the same location twice, unless the foam appears to be different than what was previously collected and sampled.
While there are currently no criteria to compare foam too, we want to gather as much information and at as many different locations as we can.
Appreciate everyone’s help with this.

 
From: Rothe, Randy (DEQ) <ROTHER@michigan.gov>
D: 989-705-3416
C: 989-217-0083

Received these results last week from Randy Rothe, DEQ.  THANK you Randy!!!

​Lake Margrethe
 
438 private wells have been tested for PFOA/PFOS
422 results are in
362 are non-detects
58 PFOA & PFOS detected (1.2 - 68 ppt)
2 samples above MDEQ criteria - PFOA+PFOS 70 ppt (Both south bay area)
60 samples - Concentrations range between Non-Detect and 75.4 PPT
 

 
The DEQ’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division will be flying a drone along the entire shoreline of Lake Margrethe, beginning Tuesday Sept 18 through Friday Sept 21.  The exact times will be weather dependent (rain, wind, lake conditions, etc.).  The drone has a visual camera as well as a thermal imaging camera. The purpose is to look for groundwater seeps and springs where the groundwater enters the lake.  This way we can concentrate sampling water coming into the lake.   Generally flying between 50-100 feet above the lake (and that can vary based upon conditions.) This drone is a new piece of equipment and we are not certain how “deep” we will be able to “see” so that is another thing we will be looking at.  A press release is supposed to be coming out and I will send that to you once I receive it.  I didn’t want to wait for that press release to let you know.
 
Attaching a video taken by the drone as a test run we did on the north shore of Higgins Lake a few weeks back.  The shore and trees are at the top of the video. The lake is the middle and bottom, and the blue you see is a spring fed creek that dumps into Higgins Lake.  The blue is the cold water entering and you can see it mixing with the lake water.
 
Another update, we did complete the installation of 5 monitoring wells along the S.E. area of the lake and these wells were developed last week and will be sampled in the next week or two.  Estimating 5-6 weeks before we get those results back.
 
 
Thanks to LMPOA for all your help with this project.
 
Much appreciation,
 
Randall L. Rothe
District Supervisor, Remediation and Redevelopment Division
Department of Environmental Quality
2100 West M-32, Gaylord, MI 49735
989-705-3416 (Direct Line)   989-217-0083 (Cell)
989-731-4920 (Office)           989-731-6181 (Fax)
rother@michigan.gov
 

This life preserver was found in the middle of the lake.  It is VERY small.  Please contact janhunt723@gmail.com if it's yours:)

There have been two reports of the white PFAS foam in South Bay, July 2 and July 5.  Please send pics and exact location (address) to Randy Rothe, rother@michigan.gov and cc to our LMPOA director, sandralmichalik@gmail.com

Randy's phone numbers are below:
D: 989-705-3416
C: 989-217-0083

Also, please send any swimmer's itch reports to sandralmichalik@gmail.com.  Sandra has not received any reports as of July 6.