wEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Need more information? EPA representatives are available to answer questions about Cedar Creek, take comments or provide more information: Susan Pastor EPA Community Involvement Coordinator (312) 353-1325 pastor.susan@epa.gov Scott Hansen EPA Remedial Project Manager (312) 886-1999 hansen.scott@epa.gov EPA Region 5 77 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604-3590 Region 5 toll-free: (800) 621-8431, weekdays 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. On the Web You can find more information on the EPA Cedar Creek Web site: www.epa.gov/region5/sites/cedarcreek/ index.htm Information files Documents and files about the Cedar Creek site can be reviewed at these official repositories: Cedarburg City Hall W63 N645 Washington Ave. Cedarburg Public Library W63 N583 Hanover Ave. New Legal Agreement May Get Cleanup Back on Track Cedar Creek Cedarburg, Wisconsin November 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hopes a new legal agreement can restart a pollution investigation in and around Cedar Creek next year. The study is called a "remedial investigation" and will look at what kinds of substances are present and in what quantities to determine whether they are harming human health and the environment. This pollution study is a necessary step before an actual cleanup can be done. The investigation stalled two years ago when one of the companies legally responsible for the contamination, Amcast, twice went through bankruptcy. EPA has received several inquiries about the status of the Cedar Creek situation. This fact sheet will update what has been happening at the site and what can be expected over the next year. What's been done Mercury Marine and Amcast, which operated factories near Cedar Creek, were identified as responsible for the pollution in the area. Under legal agreements worked out with EPA, Mercury Marine and Amcast sampled soil, water, creek mud (sediment) and fish in 2003 and 2004. Mercury Marine also demolished its Plant 2 in May 2005. Amcast was in the process of finishing its part of the sampling when the company filed for bankruptcy in November 2004. In November 2005, Amcast agreed to complete the investigation but went bankrupt a second time and did not finish the study. Meanwhile, Mercury Marine submitted its draft investigation report for Cedar Creek in early 2005. In addition, Mercury Marine submitted a separate study in early 2006 for the site of its former Plant 2. EPA and state partner Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are currently reviewing the data from Mercury Marine's two studies. The way the legal agreements with the two companies were set up caused the investigation to stop when Amcast went bankrupt. That company was supposed to give Mercury Marine its data that would then be combined into a document called a "feasibility study." A feasibility study examines options for cleaning up the contamination. Because Amcast's portion was never completed, a feasibility study could not be done. What's next This spring EPA decided to break up the Cedar Creek site into separate parts to get the project moving again. Mercury Marine's former Plant 2 site will now have its own investigation report. EPA will amend the legal agreement in order to free up Mercury Marine to move forward. The new agreement should be completed by the end of this year or early 2007. If no more delays occur, the investigation reports from Mercury Marine should be completed by next summer. In the fall of 2007, the feasibility study outlining possible cleanup options for the Plant 2 area and Cedar Creek should be complete. EPA is also looking at ways to get Amcast involved again in the site. ------- 'sjaqif papAoaj jo speiu jaded uo psfuud si fsaqs pe; siqj_ ai!S uoi»n||Od uo ajepdn aVQ30 aaisanoa^ 30iAaas Namaa *0909 II 'o6eo|MO QQW1n iqxjij , , PAia uos^oer -MZZ OS? IJ ±oal3 (r6L-d) sJ!BUV0!iqnd JO aoyjo g uojBay AouaOy uojpaiojd leiuaiuuojjAug sa)B}s pajjun Vd3£ Cedarburg Pond Wire And Nail Pond ::::: _• Jtuck Pond .\ : , r \Li S»\ 1 IZtiV Ruhe Columbia Pond \ Plant 2 Amcast Facility JACX90M; Quarry Pond "1 Hamilton Pond lamilti Cedar Creek background The Cedar Creek site consists of the company properties of Mercury Marine, Amcast and a five-mile segment of Cedar Creek from below the Ruck Pond Dam to the Milwaukee River. This stretch of creek contains Columbia Pond, Wire and Nail Pond and the former Hamilton Pond. A dangerous chemical compound called poh chlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, contaminated the two industrial locations, Cedar Creek and some private properties. Boat maker Mercury Marine operated Plant 2 on St. John Avenue from 1951 to 1982. Fluids containing PCBs leaked from equipment and washed into storm sewers that flowed to the creek. Plant 2 was demolished in 2005, but the building site still contains PCBs. Amcast, an automotive supplier, operated on Hamilton Road in Cedarburg. Its plant also spilled PCBs that found their way to Cedar Creek through storm sewers. One of the sewers emptied into Hamilton Pond upstream of Green Bay Road. Flooding washed out the Hamilton Dam and Pond in 1996, which left behind several acres of mud flats containing PCBs. Cedar Creek Site Plan 2 ------- |