Water-Quality Data, Huron County, Michigan 2004

In that study atrazine, a widely-used agricultural herbicide with possible endocrine-disrupting effects was detected in 9 of 9 surface-water samples. Metolachlor, metribuzin, prometone, simazine, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and dichlorprop (2,4-DP) were also detected at some surface-water sites.

One pesticide, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), was detected in two monitoring wells. Additionally, routine USGS monitoring through the early 1990's indicated the Pigeon River in Huron County to have some of the highest levels of nitrate-nitrogen and dissolved solids of any monitored river in Michigan (Blumer and others, 1992). Recently, new methods of chemical and biological analysis have been developed that allow better evaluation of the nature and source of contamination of water.