Michigan Department of Environmental Quality using drone to find source of PFAs

GRAYLING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is starting to use drones to help find the source of potentially dangerous chemicals in Grayling's Lake Margrethe.

WPBN reports it's part of a larger effort to find perfluoroalkyls (PFAs) contamination around the state. 

RELATED: Contaminants discovered in public water sites around western Michigan

The drone that MDEQ is using is equipped with an infrared camera, able to pick up heat signatures.

Michigan is the first state in the country to deploy drones in search of PFAs contamination.

“We’re looking for either springs or groundwater seeps where the water actually enters the bottom of the lake," said MDEQ official Randy Rothe.

Images captured by the drone show much where colder groundwater flows into the lake. Those sources of groundwater are where experts want to test and possibly trace back to a source of PFAS.

A possible source nearby is the Camp Grayling Airfield. 

RELATED: What is 'PFAS' and how can it affect your health? Here's what you should know

PFAs are a group of man-made chemicals that are not found naturally in the environment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These are industrial chemicals used in manufacturing. Additionally, firefighters have used the chemicals to fight fires, specifically at airports. It's used in the firefighting foam.

“It could be from more than one source. We don’t know that it’s coming from Camp Grayling. They have areas that they are going to be looking at on base itself for that information," Rothe said. "We’ve had reports of houses that burned down many years ago where they have used foams. That could potentially be a source.”