Nitrate in the Groundwater on the Old Mission Peninsula: Where is it coming from?

Abstract

In 1980 the Northwest Michigan Regional Planning and Development Commission surveyed a large number of wells on the Old Mission Peninsula and found that approximately 11% of the 1,212 wells sampled exceeded the Federal drinking water standard for nitrate concentration. Nitrate concentrations of greater than 10 ppm N in drinking water are of public health concern since they may result in methemoglobinema (blue baby disease), particularly for infants under six months of age.