Commissioners agree to place EGLE monitoring-well request for Crump Park on next agenda

The Montcalm County Board of Commissioners voted to place a request from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on the board's next agenda to consider testing or installing a groundwater monitoring well at a county park referenced in the meeting transcript variously as Crump/Cramp/Crown Park.

Lena Pappas, groundwater and geological services section manager at EGLE, described a statewide effort to “rehabilitate approximately 300 wells across the state, to build out the state's groundwater monitoring network.” She told the board some of those wells are remnants of a USGS network from about 30 years ago and that EGLE and the Michigan Geological Survey are locating old wells and installing new monitoring wells where gaps exist.

Commissioners asked whether an existing well is present at the park and whether the state could use nearby state land or private agricultural monitoring data instead of county property. Pappas said the agency prefers to use existing wells where possible, will partner with counties on siting, and can abandon a well if the county does not want it. “If you do not want it there, then we'll come in and we actually abandon it,” she said.

The board did not approve or deny the EGLE request at the July 27 meeting; rather, a motion to place the EGLE item on the county's next meeting agenda passed by voice vote so the board can review details, exact location, and any concerns raised by residents and staff.

Next steps: EGLE is expected to provide more precise location data and follow-up details for the board to consider at its next meeting.