United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Public comment period
The U.S. Department of Justice will
accept comments on the agreement
between Georgia Pacific and the
federal government on the DOJ Web
site: www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_
Decrees.html. The Web site will
include information on the dates when
comments will be accepted.
Contact EPA
For more information, or if you
have questions about the Willow
Boulevard/A-Site Landfill cleanup,
contact:
Don de Blasio
Community Involvement Coordinator
312-886-4360
deblasio .don@epa.gov
Michael Berkoff
Remedial Project Manager
312-353-8983
berkoff.michael@epa.gov
Region 5 toll-free: 800-621-8431,
9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., weekdays
Read the documents
You may view site-related documents
and files at the locations listed on
Page 2.
An administrative record, which
contains detailed information that
will help select the cleanup plan, is
also located at EPA's Chicago office
Record Center.
For more information
You can read more information
about the Willow Boulevard/A-Site
Landfill Operable Unit (OU2) cleanup
(including EPA's September 2006
Record of Decision for the cleanup
of OU2) online at: www.epa.gov/
region5/sites/kalproj ect.
Agreement Reached on Willow
Boulevard/A-Site Cleanup
Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site
Kalamazoo, Michigan June 2009
Georgia-Pacific, a responsible party at the site, has agreed to implement the
cleanup plan selected by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the 2006
Record of Decision for the Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill. The cleanup
is estimated to cost nearly $13 million. Under the proposed settlement,
Georgia-Pacific, which owns the Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill portion
of the site, will consolidate PCB-contaminated material, design and install a
permanent landfill cap over a 32-acre area, design and install a ground water
monitoring system and build long-term erosion control measures.
The landfill cap will meet the requirements of the Michigan Natural
Resources and Environmental Protection Act. It will consist of a flexible
membrane liner, a gas venting layer, and a soil drainage layer, covered by
several inches of topsoil to support and encourage native plant growth. The
landfill cap will isolate and contain contaminated material within the landfill
and reduce the potential for PCBs to migrate to the Kalamazoo River. It also
will prevent people from being exposed to the pollution.
Additionally, Georgia-Pacific will take steps that will hopefully result in
some level of restoration of wetlands and shoreline habitat areas along the
site borders and next to the Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill.
The Allied Paper, Inc/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site
includes a number of former paper mill properties and disposal areas, an
approximately 80-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River from Morrow Dam
to Lake Michigan, and a three-mile stretch of Portage Creek. The Willow
Boulevard/A-Site Landfill portion of the site consists of two former disposal
areas and adjacent sections that include wetlands and woodlands (referred to
as Operable Unit 2 of the site).
Following the 30-day public comment period, DOJ will respond to
comments, if necessary, and request the court's approval of the settlement
Landfill design work will begin immediately following the comment period
and court approval of the proposed cleanup deal. On-site construction
work is expected to begin in 2011. Currently, to prevent erosion of PCB-
contaminated material into the Kalamazoo River, a geotextile membrane and
sand cover part of the Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill, and a sheet-pile
wall borders the A-Site portion of the landfill.
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Information libraries
The public can read documents
related to the Kalamazoo River
Superfund site at the following places:
Kalamazoo Public Library
315 S.Rose St.
Kalamazoo
Charles Ransom Library
SOS. SherwoodAve.
Plainwell
Allegan Public Library
331HubbardSt.
Allegan
Otsego District Library
219 S. Farmer St.
Otsego
Saugatuck-Douglas Library
10 Mixer St.
Douglas
Waldo Library
Western Michigan University
903 W. Michigan Ave.
Kalamazoo
What are RGBs?
PCBs are a group of toxic chemicals that were produced in the United States
between 1929 and 1978 for use primarily as industrial coolants, insulators
and lubricants. PCBs were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial
applications including carbonless copy paper - which contributed to the
Kalamazoo River contamination - and many other applications because they
were stable and resisted wear and chemical breakdown.
The same chemical properties that made PCBs useful to industry are now
responsible for persistent levels of PCBs remaining in the environment,
including the Kalamazoo River. PCBs last in the environment because they
adhere readily to organic material in sediment and soil and tend to build up
in the fatty tissue offish and other animals. PCBs have been demonstrated to
cause a variety of adverse health effects in animals. PCBs cause cancer and
noncancer health effects on the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine
systems. Studies suggest PCBs have similar effects on people.
The different health effects of PCBs may be interrelated, as alterations in one
system may have significant implications for other systems of the body. The
potential adverse environmental and health effects of PCBs were not well
understood until 1977, when the government banned most uses of PCBs.
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