In 1926 my ancestors acquired a 180 acre farm in Green Oak Twp MI (near Brighton) not far from the Huron River and a house that was built in 1915 (which still exists). No one knows who the previous owners were or how the land was used. My grandparents & great-grandparents grew crops which were mainly corn and alfalfa, and they had their own cows-hogs-sheep-chickens-etc. My grandparents had seven kids on that farm and the farming continued until the mid 1950s. Three of those kids are still alive including my mother who is 84 and two uncles...one is 90 and the other is almost 93. My grandfather lived to be 90, my grandmother 86.
FF to 2017. I have a cousin who has been living in the farmhouse since approx 1991. She is being treated for leukemia and we know that it is hereditary because four members of her mother’s family also had the disease. However, during the course of her chemo it was discovered that my cousin has been ingesting arsenic...how much, I don’t know. After investigation, it was determined that the arsenic is in the well water at the farmhouse. The well water has been deemed unsafe for drinking or cooking.
Now, the question is this: If the site was not contaminated when my ancestors acquired it, what might they have done (probably unintentionally) to introduce arsenic into the well water? Could it have been a fertilizer that was used? My second thought is the Huron River. A lot or war production took place in that general area during the 1940s and maybe someone wasn’t too careful about what chemicals got dumped into the water.
I’m sure there is more to this story but this is all I know at this time. When my grandparents passed, the land was parceled out for home-building and perhaps 200 homes within a two mile radius have been built there since 1991 and they are all drawing water from a well.
FF to 2017. I have a cousin who has been living in the farmhouse since approx 1991. She is being treated for leukemia and we know that it is hereditary because four members of her mother’s family also had the disease. However, during the course of her chemo it was discovered that my cousin has been ingesting arsenic...how much, I don’t know. After investigation, it was determined that the arsenic is in the well water at the farmhouse. The well water has been deemed unsafe for drinking or cooking.
Now, the question is this: If the site was not contaminated when my ancestors acquired it, what might they have done (probably unintentionally) to introduce arsenic into the well water? Could it have been a fertilizer that was used? My second thought is the Huron River. A lot or war production took place in that general area during the 1940s and maybe someone wasn’t too careful about what chemicals got dumped into the water.
I’m sure there is more to this story but this is all I know at this time. When my grandparents passed, the land was parceled out for home-building and perhaps 200 homes within a two mile radius have been built there since 1991 and they are all drawing water from a well.
Last edited: