SERA

United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

Plainwell PCB Cleanup Progress,
Updates, and Public Meeting

Informational meeting

EPA is holding a public meeting
Tuesday, Sept. 23, so you can learn
more about the latest developments
in the Kalamazoo River cleanup.

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m.
at the Comfort Inn and Conference
Center, 622 Allegan St., Plainwell,
Mich.

EPA representatives and other
officials will make a formal
presentation and be available
to discuss site activities with
you individually. If you need
special accommodations, contact
EPA Community Involvement
Coordinator Dave Novak (see below)
by Sept. 18.

Contact EPA

For more information, or if you have
comments about the Kalamazoo river
cleanup, contact:

Dave Novak

Community Involvement
Coordinator
EPA Region 5 (P-19J)

77 W. Jackson Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60604-3590
312-886-7478 or 800-621-8431,
Ext. 67478, weekdays 10 a.m. to
5:30 p.m.

no vak. dave(gjepa.go v

For more information

You can read more information about
the Kalamazoo River cleanup online

at: www.epa.gov/ region5/ sites/
kalproject.

Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site

Kalamazoo, Michigan	September 2008

Cleanup work to remove PCB-contaniiiiated sediment (mud) from the
Kalamazoo River's Plainwell Impoundment continues on schedule. This
is the second year of an estimated 2-year project to remove 120,000 cubic
yards of sediment containing 4,400 pounds of PCBs. The cleanup work is
being performed by contractors hired by responsible parties Millennium
Holdings LLC and Georgia-Pacific LLC.

Poly chlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs, are chemical compounds
with common industrial uses. At high concentrations and exposures they
can cause illness in humans and wildlife (see box on Page 3).

In 2007, over 37,000 cubic yards or 1,059 truckloads of PCB-contaminated
sediment were removed from the river and nearby banks. This includes
removal areas 1, 2, 3A and B, 4A and B, 5, 6A and B, 7 and 8 (see map on
Page 2). Cleanup crews have completed work in the Phase 1 coffer dam
area with construction of the western water diversion structure (Phase 1
coffer dam), which maintains the current flow of the river over the eastern
spillway area. This allowed workers to dredge behind the dam, build a
water control structure, and remove the portion of the dam in the former
powerhouse area.

Dredging activities in mid-channel area B.

So far in 2008, workers have removed sediment and restored banks along
some 3,000 feet of riverbank including areas 9A and B, 10A and B, 11B.
and 12B (see map on page 2). Work has been completed on mid-channel
areas B and C, removal of the Phase 1 cofferdam, and construction of the
Phase 2 cofferdam system just upstream of the eastern portion (spillway)
of the dam. As of Aug. 11, some 45,000 cubic yards or 1,289 truckloads
of PCB-contaminated sediment have been removed this year. The water
control structure, which was constructed during Phase 1, will remain in
place in the western channel as a means of managing the water level in

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CARL CT

LEGEND:

	 SHORELINE

b66\ STAGING AREA

STAGING AREA - DEMOBILIZED

NOTE:

1. THE SHORELINE WAS PROVIDED BY THE UNITED
STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED APPROXIMATE

TRUCK TRAFFIC:

= REMOVAL AREA TO/FROM DISPOSAL AREA
~ REMOVAL COMPLETED IN 2007
REMOVAL TARGETED IN 2008

0	600

1,200
H Feet

GRAPHIC SCALE

the impoundment to facilitate the dredging operations.
After the mid-channel and near-shore sediment cleanup
activities are complete, the water control structure will be
removed, allowing the Kalamazoo River to flow freely
through the new western channel, past what was once the
Plainwell Dam.

Kalamazoo River sediment dug up in the Plainwell
Impoundment cleanup this year (2008) will continue to
be sent off site to commercial landfills for disposal. The
Plainwell waste is being divided into sediment containing
50 parts per million or more of PCBs and material with
lower concentrations. To help put this in perspective, that
equates to 50 drops of dye in 10,000 gallons of water.
Under the federal Toxic Substances and Control Act, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates the use,
storage and disposal of sediment with PCB concentrations
exceeding 50 ppm. Sediment with PCBs above the 50 ppm
level will continue to be sent off site to Environmental
Quality Co.'s Wayne Disposal Landfill in Belleville,

Mich. Sediment with less than 50 ppm PCBs, which is
considered nonhazardous waste, will continue to be sent to

Allied Waste's C and C Landfill near Marshall, Mich., and
its Ottawa Farms Landfill near Coopersville, Mich.

EPA Region 5 and state partner Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality continue to oversee this year's
dredging. The estimated cost of the time-critical removal
cleanup is $30 million and is expected to continue
through December 2008. Site information including new
photographs is posted at www.epa.gov/ region5/sites/
kalproject.

Mill update

Earlier this year for the Plainwell Mill, EPA provided
comments to Weyerhaeuser (one of the parties EPA has
found to be responsible for contamination at the site)
on the cleanup study and alternatives field sampling
plan. After its review of EPA comments, Weyerhaeuser
suggested phasing the cleanup investigation, which EPA
and MDEQ agreed upon. EPA and MDEQ are reviewing
the work plan for additional investigations on the banks
of the mill, and mobilization for this work is expected
this fall.

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Kalamazoo River/Portage Creek
supplemental cleanup studies

A February 2007 legal agreement requires additional
study of the Kalamazoo River and Portage Creek.
Planners divided the river into seven areas for the
additional investigation. Area 1 consists of the
Kalamazoo River between Morrow Dam and Plainwell,
and Portage Creek between Cork Street and the
Kalamazoo River.

Phase 1 of the investigation work was conducted last
fall. Phase 2 investigations are under way and included
collecting 40 sediment cores along Portage Creek; 30
sediment cores along the Kalamazoo River between
the former Georgia-Pacific Mill and Crown Vantage
Landfill; and 60 cores along the Kalamazoo River from
the Plainwell No. 2 Dam Area. The cores are being
segregated and analyzed for PCBs to determine the
extent of any contamination in these areas. Although
previous sampling has occurred in Area 1, this sampling
effort focuses on areas where little information has been
obtained and/or some previous contamination has been
identified, but the extent is not known.

Representatives of EPA, MDEQ and the Kalamazoo
River Study Group are working together to determine
what further sampling may be necessary. The Phase 2
work will be completed this fall, and based upon those
sampling results, a Phase 3 sampling event will occur to
finalize this sediment sampling effort in Area 1.

Update for the landfills

In addition to the cleanup activities at the Plainwell
Impoundment, developments on other parts of the
Kalamazoo River site cleanups are occurring.

12th Street Landfill

Weyerhaeuser has conducted its pre-design studies,
the first step in the cleanup design process for the 12th
Street Landfill cap and monitoring system. The first draft
of the cleanup design document is due in September.
Construction of the cap and monitoring system should
occur in the 2009 field season.

Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill

EPA and the Kalamazoo River Study Group are
concluding their negotiations for the cleanup plan that
EPA selected in the 2006 record of decision. The consent
decree also includes a settlement between the Natural
Resource Trustees and Kalamazoo River Study Group
for the group to do additional work that would result in
restoring habitat. As a part of this, the Kalamazoo River
Study Group will cut down the sheet piling at the Willow
A-Site Landfill and recontour the toe of the landfill to
create a shoreline habitat. Once the consent decree is
signed, the design process will begin with the necessary
predesign studies.

Allied Paper Landfill

EPA is finalizing its review of applicable cleanup goals for
the Allied Paper Landfill. Millennium Holdings will use
the results to generate practical cleanup options that will
be documented in a report called a feasibility study. The
first draft of the FS is expected at the end of March 2009.
As part of EPA's work on the landfill, EPA is providing
support to the city of Kalamazoo on its redevelopment
plans for the Portage Creek corridor. EPA will hold a
meeting to discuss the Allied Landfill operable unit in
Kalamazoo during late October or early November.
Information about the meeting will be provided later.

What are PCBs?

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 of fish and other animals.
PCBs have been demonstrated to cause a variety of
adverse health effects in animals. PCBs cause cancer
and may affect 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.

On the Web:

www.epa.gov/region5/sites/kalproject

3

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Plainwell PCB Cleanup
Progress and Updates

Public Meeting
Tuesday, Sept. 23
(details inside)

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