For over 50 years, concerns about the safety of Wyandotte's drinking water have been voiced by numerous water quality experts including United States EPA staff, State of Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Envrionment (EGLE)/Department of Envrionmental Quality (DEQ) staff, and experienced scientists with water quality expertise. Despite these warnings, the substandard water quality continues due to industrial pollution, as well as outdated and inadequate local infrastructure. There is a 50 year history of public health safety violations in regard to water criteria in the Detroit River immediately upstream from where the City of Wyandotte currently sources its drinking water, source. 

Drinking water quality tests are currently performed every quarter, which is just 4x a year. These tests search for regulated chemicals, but fail to include the nonregulated chemicals that are known to be present in this area of the Detroit River. This difference in testing has been acknowledged by both the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and EGLE as a data gap.  

There are 17 documented carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) present in the Detroit River directly above the Wyandotte intake and no amount of their presence in our drinking water is safe.   

We must remember that the absence of evidence does not equal safety. Just because the known pollutants have not been captured in the small 4x yearly tests doesn't mean that those chemicals never make it into the intake. 

Researching a cleaner source of drinking water is crucial for protecting the wellbeing of the Wyandotte community and striving for a healthier future for all residents and visitors. One viable solution is to connect Wyandotte's water system to Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), a regional entity known for its reliable and safe water services. This move would provide residents with high-quality drinking water and alleviate longstanding fears of chemical exposures due to sourcing drinking water from a contaminated stretch of the Detroit River, as is done currently. Each effort made at reducing a person's exposure to contaminants is a step toward protecting their very life. 

This petition is to urge the Wyandotte City Council to request from GLWA feasibility information on connecting to the GLWA infrastructure. GLWA infrastructure is already located within Wyandotte, see this GLWA map. 

Join us in asking for this information. Sign this petition to advocate for safer drinking water for everyone in Wyandotte, including residents, visitors, students, and patients receiving care at the Wyandotte hospital and medical facilities.

Wyandotte deserves better than to drink potentially contaminated water. Downriver deserves better than to be used as a hazardous waste dump. The Great Lakes deserve better. 

We believe the polluters should be held accountable for the risks they've imposed on the current Wyandotte municipal water intake. We believe switching to an alternate water source is an unfair burden put onto the community members. We believe Wyandotte deserves Congressional appropriations to help pay for this project. We believe the polluters should be held financially responsible.

Please see this website for additional information, including Frequently Asked Questions about this project.

Follow this link to print a flyer designed for distribution. Please share with others, only the community can get this done. 

Wyandotte residents, please consider taking this survey to tell us how these issues have impacted you.