wEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Attend the public meeting
EPA and Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality
representatives have scheduled a
public meeting to update interested
people on the progress being made
in the cleanup of the Forest Waste
Disposal site. The meeting will be
held:
Wednesday, Aug. 22
7 - 9 p.m.
130 E. Main St.
Otisville, Mich.
If you need special accommodations
for the meeting or have general
questions or comments contact:
Dave Novak
Community Involvement
Coordinator
EPARegion5(P-19J)
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
312-886-7478 or 800-621-8431,
weekdays 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
novak.dave@epa.gov
For technical questions or to talk
with an MDEQ representative, see
the contact information on Page 2.
For more information
You can read more information
about the Forest Waste Disposal site
online at: www.epa.gov/R5Super/
npl/michigan/MID980410740.htm
Official site documents are also
available at the Forest Township
Library, 123 W. Main St., Otisville.
Start of Cleanup Work
Planned for September
Forest Waste Disposal
Genesee County, Michigan
August 2007
*. ---/'' •
Monitoring wells sprout from a section of the Forest Waste Disposal site. The wells
track the movement of contaminated underground water supplies.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials say pollution treatment
will begin this September as part of the ongoing cleanup effort at the Forest
Waste Disposal site. The treatment system is among cleanup plan changes
approved in September 2005 after a public hearing and comment period.
One of the major goals of the 2005 cleanup plan is to destroy volatile
organic compounds, or VOCs, in underground water supplies (called ground
water in environmental terms) by injecting chemical oxidants. VOCs are
chemicals that are found in solvents, paint and gasoline and tend to dissolve
in water. At the Forest Waste site, the contaminated ground water containing
VOCs is located near the northwest and northern borders of the site but at
some points has moved off-site.
The chemical oxidation system and other cleanup actions included in
the 2005 plan will cost about $4.8 million and are being paid for and
implemented by a private group called the Forest Waste Coordinating
Committee. The primary VOC of concern is vinyl chloride, which can cause
cancer. The chemical oxidant reacts with and breaks down the vinyl chloride
into harmless substances (see drawing on Page 3).
Ground-water contamination begins at the site's landfill and follows the
pathways shown in Figure 1 on Page 4. Contamination sits along the western
boundary of the small lake and just north of the bend in Harris Road and
appears to be moving to the northwest about 80 feet per year. A landfill cap
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installed in 1997 greatly reduces the source of the ground-
water contamination by blocking rain and snowmelt that
could soak through the waste field and pick up vinyl
chloride.
When the treatment starts in a few weeks, chemical
oxidants will be injected into the ground water through a
series of wells or borings located at 10-foot intervals along
the treatment lines near Harris Road and on the west side
of the small lake (see Figure 1).
Ground-water treatment near the landfill
A second part of the 2005 cleanup plan includes treating
VOCs in the ground water leaving the landfill area. The
plan included two options for doing that. One technique
would add oxygen to the ground water to speed the VOCs'
natural breakdown. The other option would inject air
into a trench across the ground water flow path, which
is called air-sparging. The technology for adding oxygen
to the ground water was tested during 2005 and 2006
and found to be ineffective. However, recent ground
water data indicates VOCs and especially vinyl chloride
concentrations drop off within a short distance from the
landfill. For that reason ground-water treatment near the
landfill may not be necessary. If experts think treatment
is needed in the future, an air-sparging trench will be
constructed just north of the landfill (see Figure 1 Page 4).
Ground-water pumping restrictions
The 2005 cleanup plan placed well pumping restrictions
on the area in and around the Forest Waste site. Computer
modeling indicated this area should be larger to provide
a bigger margin of safety. Figure 3 on Page 5 shows an
updated map of the area where expanded ground-water
pumping restrictions are in place through a Genesee
County Health Department permit system.
Site usage and cleanup review
About 20 semi-permanent injection wells will be installed
along the chemical oxidation treatment line near Harris
Road. A fence will be constructed and warning signs
posted around the treatment line. In contrast, the injection
wells near the lake will be portable, and access restrictions
will apply only during operations. Outside of the fenced
areas and locations where work is being conducted, the
current limited recreational uses of the site can continue.
This usage is controlled by Forest Township through a
permit system.
EPA is also in the process of reviewing previous cleanup
actions taken at the site. A document called the five-year
review report will be completed by Sept. 30 and can be
read at the Forest Township Library or on the Internet at
www.epa.gov/R5 Super/fiveyear.
Natural attenuation and monitoring
The 2005 cleanup plan also relies on natural processes
such as decay and dilution to reduce contamination that
has already passed the chemical oxidation treatment lines.
This process is called natural attenuation, and it requires
extensive ground-water monitoring to verify it is working
(see Figure 1 for the location of monitoring wells and
Figure 3 for contamination attenuation area). Some of the
numerous monitoring wells checking natural attenuation
are located outside the site.
Annual sampling of private wells near the Forest Waste
property is continuing and to date no VOCs have been
detected. The chemical oxidation treatment should
substantially reduce VOC levels and limit further
movement of the contaminated ground water. Eventually,
the combination of chemical oxidation and natural
attenuation should result in underground water supplies
both on- and off-site that are safe for drinking.
More contacts
If you would like to talk with someone about the
Forest Waste site you can contact these government
representatives:
For technical questions:
Richard Boice
Remedial Project Manager
EPA Region 5 (SR-6J)
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
312-886-4740
boice .richard@epa.gov
At MDEQ:
Deborah Larsen
Site Manager
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
P.O. Box 30426
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-4825
larsend@michigan .gov
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Mixing Tank
Site
Boundary
Clean
J Groundwater
Groundwater Flow
The oxidation chemical, potassium permanganate, will be injected down semi-permanent wells or temporary borings at high pressure
and forced out into the mass of contaminated underground water. The oxidant will then react with the vinyl chloride and cause it to break
down into harmless substances.
Site history
The Forest Waste Disposal site located in Forest
Township, Genesee County, Mich., originally covered
112 acres, but the area was expanded by an additional
80-acre parcel in September 2005. The disposal
areas located on-site include an 11-acre landfill and
nine former lagoons. General refuse and industrial
and liquid waste were disposed of at the landfill and
lagoons from 1973 to 1978, the year the state of
Michigan revoked the landfill license due to various
violations.
Human exposure to the hazardous waste stored on the
site was eliminated by construction of a fence around
the property to stop trespassers, complete removal of
the lagoon waste in 1988-1989 and construction of
a landfill cap in 1995-1997. The remaining potential
health threat comes from the creeping masses of
contaminated underground water, but the cleanup
actions outlined in this fact sheet are designed to
solve that problem.
All of the site property is under control of Forest
Township. Deed notices at the location prohibit
excavation and construction unless approved by
EPA and also bar the use of ground water for
anything except sampling. In 2005 EPA decided
it was safe to use sections outside the landfill area
for limited recreational activities. Forest Township
through a permit system has allowed model airplane
flying, archery and paintball in those areas.
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PROPOSED <1
FENCE
POTENTIAL AIR
SPARGE AREA
2.2
<
APPROXIMATE PROPERTY BOUNDARY
FENCE
RESIDENTIAL WELL LOCATION
APPROXIMATE LIMIT OF IMPACTED GROUNDWATER
MONITORING LOCATION
VINYL CHLORIDE CONCENTRATION
LESS THAN
CHEMICAL INJECTION LINE ^ ? SITE PLAN
GROUNDWATER FLOW DIRECTION FOREST WASTE SITE
HOUSE Otisville, Michigan
figure 1
12210-10fPRES012>GN-WA001 AUG 03/2007
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\
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SITE BOUNDARY
FENCE LINE
MODEL DO MAIN
ROAD
STREAM
HOUSE
CONTAMINATION ATTENUATION AREA
PUMPING RESTRICTION AREA WITH WELL AT 10 GPM
PUMPING RESTRCITION AREA WITH WELL AT 50 GPM
FINAL POSTION OF WELL AT 10 GPM PUMPING RESTRICTION AREA
FINAL POSITION OF WELL AT 50 GPM PUMPING RESTRICTION AREA figure 3
SUGGESTED PUMPING RESTRICTION AREAS
FOREST WASTE SITE
Otisville, Michigan
12210-10(PRES012)GN-WA003 AUG 07/2007
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Forest Waste Cleanup Work
Scheduled for September
Public Meeting for Site Update
Wednesday, Aug. 22
(details inside)
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