Warning issued for Ironwood, Hurley water

By LARRY HOLCOMBE

[email protected]

Ironwood — Ironwood city officials are asking the public in Ironwood and Hurley to use bottled water as drinking water for infants. The warning extends to Hurley because it purchases its municipal water from Ironwood.

The action comes as the manganese levels in the drinking water approach the federal Environmental Protection Agency precautionary levels, said a press release from Ironwood officials on Friday.

Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson told the Daily Globe later Friday that recent concerns about the aesthetic quality of the city’s water led to recent testing of manganese in the system. The results came in this week and one of the city’s six wells showed a level of manganese above a benchmark for infants set by the EPA. That well was shut down.

Erickson said the city mixes the water from its wells and the manganese level from the mixture was not a problem, but more testing is being done.

“This Precautionary Notice is being distributed for city of Ironwood and city of Hurley residents until additional testing can be completed. The Western Upper Peninsula Health Department will be conducting additional systemwide testing to further evaluate manganese levels in the system,” said the release.

Erickson said the health department is planning on testing the water in several homes around the city. The results of those tests won’t be known until next week, so the current warning about no city water for infants will be on until those results are analyzed.

“The city of Ironwood currently meets all health advisory limits for manganese,” said the release before it went into more detail.

“The current manganese levels that have been independently tested show that the level of manganese in the city wells tested between 1.2 and 520 parts per billion (ppb). The well that tested at 520 ppb was subsequently taken out of service,” said the release. “The level of manganese leaving the city’s water plant, which is when water from the different wells gets mixed together, was 280 ppb. The EPA Health Advisory Level for children less than 12 months old is 300 ppb and for adults is 1,000 ppb,” the release said.

“The city of Ironwood is working cooperatively with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to investigate potential manganese levels in homes,” said the release.

As part of its “precautionary approach to address this issue,” the city of Ironwood will provide bottled water for families in Ironwood and Hurley with infants 12 months and under until further notice, the release said.

Bottled water may be picked up at the Ironwood Public Safety Office located at 123 W. McLeod Ave. on Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Manganese is good and bad for the body, depending on the amount and age of the human, according to the release.

“Some amount of manganese is needed for the human body to function, but too much can be harmful. The bodies of adults and children older than 12 months can remove excess manganese,” the release said. “Infants’ bodies may not be able to process higher levels. Making formula or foods with water containing high levels of manganese can increase an infant’s risk of health problems. Too much manganese is linked to learning and behavior problems.”

Officials warned against boiling the water. “Boiling water does not remove manganese and may increase the amount,” the release said.

The release suggested:

—The public should direct medical questions to a doctor.

—Infants less than 12 months old should be given bottled water for anything they eat or drink, including making juice, formula, purees and cereals

—Adults and children over 12 months old can use tap water for drinking.

—Adults and children of any age (including infants) can continue to bathe and shower, brush their teeth, and wash clothes, foods, and dishes in tap water.

Erickson said representatives from the state Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, as well as the WUPHD will be present to provide information at Monday’s regular meeting of the Ironwood City Commission at 5:30 p.m.

For more information about the manganese and heath, city officials suggested contacting the WUPHD at 906-482-7382 or the state Department of Health and Human Services at 800-648-6942. These lines are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. City of Hurley residents can contact the Iron County Health Department Monday through Friday at 715-561-2191 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. City of Ironwood residents can contact the city’s water department at 906-932-5050 ext. 110 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.