&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Kalamazoo River Cleanup
Decisions on Hold
Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site
Kalamazoo, Michigan June 2004
Public information meeting
EPA invites you to learn about the
new and important developments
since our last meeting about the
cleanup of the Allied Paper/Portage
Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund
site. The meeting agenda will
include information about river
modeling and upcoming facilitated
negotiations involving EPA,
responsible parties, state agencies,
and the Kalamazoo River Natural
Resource Trustees. The meeting
will be held on:
Tuesday, June 29
6-8 p.m.
Plainwell High School
684 Starr Road
If you need special accommodations
to attend, contact EPA Community
Involvement Coordinator Don
de Blasio.
Contact EPA
For more information or comments
about the Kalamazoo River
project you may contact these EPA
representatives:
Don de Blasio
Community Involvement
Coordinator (P-l 9J)
EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 886-4360 or (800) 621-8431,
weekdays 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
deblasio.don@epa.gov
Continues on back page
Allied Paper Landfill
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will delay its cleanup plan for the
Kalamazoo River while the Agency works on three important developments
surrounding the Superfund site. One of those developments is a question
about the fate of the state-owned dams on the river. EPA is discussing with
Michigan agencies whether to tear out the dams during the cleanup process
or keep them intact. EPA also needs time to conduct a special type of
scientific study called "modeling," which will precisely track contamination
in and along the river. EPA will also begin legal negotiations between
the parties held responsible for the pollution, Michigan agencies and the
Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Trustees.
Impoundment study and dams
EPA had been conducting an in-depth review known as a remedial
investigation/feasibility study on one portion of the Superfund site. The
study was done on riverbanks and flood plain areas, called impoundments,
behind the Plainwell and Otsego City dams. The impoundments hold tons
of soil and sediment (mud) contaminated with the chemical compound
polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly called PCBs. PCBs were released
in the waste of paper mills along the Kalamazoo River. EPA believes the
Plainwell and Otsego City impoundments may be releasing PCBs into the
river.
As many concerned residents in the area know, EPA was supposed to
release its cleanup recommendations for the Plainwell and Otsego City
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12th Street Landfill
impoundments last year. EPA's progress has been slowed
due to ongoing discussions between EPA, Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality and Michigan
Department of Natural Resources over the future of
the state-owned dams. The state of Michigan owns the
Plainwell dam as well as the Otsego and Trowbridge
dams. The Otsego City dam and two other dams on the
Kalamazoo River are privately or municipally owned
structures. The state agencies and many members of the
Kalamazoo River community share the goal of restoring
the river to a more natural system by removing these dams
and excavating all contaminated sediment, banks and
flood plains that are behind each dam and disposing of the
material off-site.
EPA's progress toward developing a cleanup plan was
further slowed because Agency scientists could not
determine with enough accuracy what effect each of the
riverbank options evaluated in the remedial investigation/
feasibility study, such as excavation or stabilization, would
have on PCB levels in fish. In other words, EPA could
not answer the important question of whether Kalamazoo
River fish would be safe to eat within a reasonable time
frame if EPA took an action to reduce, eliminate or control
erosion of PCBs from the banks.
Where EPA stands today
Questions about the dams and PCB levels in fish
prompted EPA to conclude that it needs to do a modeling
study on the Kalamazoo River. The Agency performed
modeling at other large sediment sites such as the Fox
River in Wisconsin and the Hudson River in New
York. Modeling should help answer the question of
how much of the contaminated riverbank, sediment and
flood plain areas will need to be removed or controlled
so that Kalamazoo River fish will be safe to eat within a
reasonable time. Modeling should also show what would
happen to PCB levels in fish if the dams are removed.
Because these questions need to be answered before a
cleanup option can be chosen, EPA decided to postpone
finishing its remedial investigation/feasibility study for the
Plainwell and Otsego City impoundments.
EPA also decided that during the time it will take to
complete a model, it will continue discussions with the
Michigan agencies on the future of the state-owned
dams. And also during this time, EPA will begin the legal
negotiations with the responsible parties, MDEQ, MDNR
and the Natural Resource Trustees.
How modeling works
Modeling is a process that identifies all PCB sources in
the river. Those sources could include PCBs coming from
upstream, eroding banks or ground water (underground
supplies of fresh water) seeping into the river. Modeling
will help explain how the PCBs are moving within the
Kalamazoo River and where they end up - in sediment,
on surface water or in living things such as fish and plants.
This information can then be used to evaluate what effect
a cleanup option (such as dredging or capping) will have
on reducing PCBs in fish to safe levels. Modeling will
also help to show how long that process will take (five
years, 10 years or 20 years). This type of modeling is
very different from the U.S. Geological Survey study that
looked at sediment movement but did not study how PCBs
move and their effect on fish. Modeling conducted on the
Fox and Hudson rivers, which are contaminated with large
amounts of PCBs, allowed EPA to make a scientific and
legal case that required the responsible parties to pay for
the cleanups. EPA will begin developing the Kalamazoo
river model this summer. The Agency expects to receive
some, but not all the results within a year.
A-Site Landfill
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Willow Boulevard Landfill
Facilitated negotiations with responsible parties
Facilitated legal negotiations will involve the responsible
parties and the governmental parties that have a legal
claim against the responsible parties for pollution in the
Kalamazoo River. These parties include MDEQ and the
Natural Resource Trustees, comprising MDEQ, Michigan
Attorney General, U.S. Department of Interior and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
MDNR will also participate since it has responsibility for
the state dams and contaminated banks, river and flood
plains on the Kalamazoo River. A professional facilitator
will help guide these negotiations.
One of the goals of the facilitated negotiations is to
determine what additional investigation and data are
needed to further develop the cleanup options for
downstream portions of the river. EPA believes additional
sampling - similar to the EPA sampling conducted at
Plainwell and Otsego City impoundments - is needed.
Another goal of the negotiations is to gather information
from the Natural Resource Trustees to help EPA fully
develop a cleanup option that would allow for future
dam removal. An example of the information that may
be needed is what effect removing the state-owned dams
would have on downstream dams that remain in place or
on Lake Allegan. These questions were not answered by
the U.S. Geological Survey study. The USGS study only
addressed what would happen to river sediment and where
downstream bank erosion would occur if the state-owned
dams catastrophically failed.
The intended result of the negotiations is a legally binding
agreement between the responsible parties and EPA that
will authorize the responsible parties to finish - under
EPA's oversight - the remedial investigation/feasibility
study for the rest of the river. The negotiations should
start this summer and are expected to last from six months
to a year.
Status of landfills
Here's an update on the cleanup status of the former paper
mill landfills that are located along the Kalamazoo River.
Willow Boulevard/A-Site landfills: EPA is developing a
cleanup project outlined in a document called a proposed
plan. EPA is waiting for MDEQ approval on the remedial
investigation/feasibility study so it can publish a legal
notice on the cleanup plan and hold a public meeting.
12th Street landfill: EPA is working with the responsible
parties to get a protective cover constructed and ground-
water wells installed.
Allied Paper landfill: MDEQ continues to work on the
remedial investigation. EPA will take over this project
when the state study is completed.
King Highway landfill: This landfill is closed and covered.
MDEQ will continue to oversee the ground-water
monitoring program and maintenance of this landfill.
Next steps
EPA will hold a workshop so the community can
understand how modeling is performed and what
information it will produce that is important to the public,
such as when people can expect to safely eat Kalamazoo
River fish. EPA will also hold regular update meetings
to keep people informed on the progress of the modeling
and the facilitated negotiations. These update meetings
will occur every three months and will be announced in
advance through mailings such as this and newspaper
notices.
King Highway Landfill
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&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 5
Office of Public Affairs (P-19J)
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
FIRST CLASS
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
ALLIED PAPER/PORTAGE CREEK/KALAMAZOO RIVER SUPERFUND SITE:
Kalamazoo River Cleanup Decisions on Hold
This fact sheet is printed on paper made of recycled fibers.
Continued from page 1
Shari Kolak
Remedial Project Manager (SR-6J)
EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 886-6151 or (800) 621-8431,
weekdays 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
kolak.shari@epa.gov
Information libraries
The public can read documents related to the Kalamazoo River
Superfund site at these places:
Kalamazoo Public Library
315 S.Rose
Kalamazoo
Waldo Library
Western Michigan University
1903 W. Michigan Ave.
Kalamazoo
Charles Ransom Library
80 S. Sherwood
Plainwell
Allegan Public Library
331HubbardSt.
Allegan
Otsego District Library
219 S. Farmer St.
Otsego
Saugatuck-Douglas Library
10 Mixer St.
Douglas
On the Web: www.epa.gov/
regionS/sites
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