oEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Informational meeting EPA is holding a public meeting Tuesday, July 14, so you can learn more about the latest developments in the Kalamazoo River cleanup. The meeting will be 6:30 p.m. at the Comfort Inn and Conference Center, 622 Allegan St., Plainwell. 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 at the meeting, contact EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Don de Blasio (see below). Contact EPA For more information or if you have comments about the Kalamazoo River cleanup contact: Don de Blasio Community Involvement Coordinator EPA Region 5 (SI-7J) 77 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604-3590 312-886-4360 or 800-621-8431, Ext. 4360, weekdays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. deblasio .don@epa.gov For more information You can read more information about the Kalamazoo River cleanup online at: www.epa.gov/region5/sites/ kalproject. Responsible Party Agrees To Cleanup Plan For #2 Dam Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site Kalamazoo, Michigan July 2009 In early June, EPA and Georgia-Pacific LLC, the party responsible for the pollution, entered into a legal agreement committing the company to conducting an emergency cleanup in the Plainwell #2 Dam area. During the last two years, Georgia-Pacific performed significant soil and sediment (mud) sampling efforts in this location. Based on the samples, Georgia- Pacific recommended to EPA that a cleanup occur near the #2 dam to stop the continuing release of PCBs into the food chain. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are chemical compounds with common industrial uses. At high concentrations and exposures they can cause illness in people and wildlife. Having the cleanup occur under a legal agreement in what EPA calls a "time critical removal action" allows the work to start sooner rather than later and will protect people and the environment from exposure to PCBs. The latest project will occur about 3 1/2 miles upstream of the recently completed Plainwell cleanup (see map on Page 2). The proposed cleanup includes a 2-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River. About 12,200 cubic yards of flood plain and bank soil along the river will be dug up and removed, and 2,400 cubic yards of river sediment will be excavated. Waste material will be disposed of at off-site commercial disposal facilities. The on-site work is scheduled to begin this August and will be completed by the end of 2010. This project will remove 90 percent of the PCBs from the area for a cost of about $10 million. In addition to the work at the Plainwell #2 Dam area, here is a summary of cleanup activities on other Kalamazoo River sites: Plainwell Impoundment Cleanup work to remove PCB-contaminated sediment from the Kalamazoo River's Plainwell Impoundment is complete. Contractors hired by the companies legally responsible for the pollution - Millennium Holdings LLC and Georgia-Pacific - removed 128,625 cubic yards of sediment containing around 4,700 pounds of PCBs. Once the final report for the Plainwell Impoundment is approved by EPA, the companies will begin three years of post-project monitoring and maintenance. The estimated cost of the work is $30 million. Site information, including new photos, is posted at www.epa. gov/region5/sites/kalproject. Kalamazoo River/Portage Creek Supplemental cleanup studies A February 2007 legal agreement required additional study of the Kalamazoo River and Portage Creek. Planners divided the river and creek into seven areas for closer examination. Area 1 consists of the Kalamazoo River between Morrow Dam and Plainwell, and Portage Creek between Cork Street and the Kalamazoo River. Studies to determine the possible extent of contamination are under way in Area 1 and are expected to be completed by the end of 2009. The majority ------- of this effort is occurring from the downtown Kalamazoo location to the Plainwell #2 Dam area. Underlying ground water (underground supplies of fresh water) sampling is also happening in the area next to the recently completed Plainwell Impoundment cleanup. Study data will be accumulated, evaluated and presented in a report in late 2011. Mill updates Plainwell Mill Weyerhaeuser has submitted to EPA and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality a plan for the second phase of its investigation at the Plainwell Mill. EPA and MDEQ are working with Weyerhaeuser to review and finalize the plan so that soil and ground water sampling can occur this summer. Georgia-Pacific Kalamazoo and former Hawthorne Mills Georgia-Pacific submitted a report to EPA stating that Georgia-Pacific Kalamazoo and the former Hawthorne Mills are not a source of PCBs into the Kalamazoo River. EPA reviewed the report and requested Georgia-Pacific conduct additional sampling and revise the report. The company completed the sampling in April and submitted its revised report for EPA review this summer. Landfill updates 12th Street Landfill Construction of the cap for the 12th Street Landfill will begin later in 2009. Complex cleanup sites like this one are often divided into smaller sections called operable units, or OUs. The 12th Street Landfill is also known as OU4. Weyerhaeuser will cap the northern and eastern slopes of the landfill using EPA-approved methods and will complete the cap for the entire landfill in 2010. Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill EPA and Georgia-Pacific reached an agreement on a proposed cleanup plan for the Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill, known as OU2. Under the agreement, Georgia- Pacific will construct a permanent landfill cover and install a ground-water monitoring system. The company will also remove contaminated soil from wetlands near the landfill. The cleanup should be completed by the end of 2011. The U.S. Department of Justice filed the proposed agreement with U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in May and accepted public comments on the plan until the first week of July. Allied Paper Landfill Millennium Holdings is studying cleanup alternatives for Allied Paper Landfill, also known as OU1. The study will be completed this September. The company is also conducting research at Allied Landfill and the surrounding area to determine if ground water underneath the landfill is affecting the city of Kalamazoo's well field. 2 FORMER PLAINWELL - DAM RIGHT DIVERSION STRUCTURE CITY OF PLAINWELL LEFT DIVERSION STRUCTURE _ RIGHT DIVERSION STRUCTURE PLAINWELL NO 2 DAM *• AREA \ % % 3 ------- Plainwell #2 Dam Cleanup Plan; Kalamazoo River Updates Public Meeting: Tuesday, July 14 (details inside) ¦sjdqy papAoaj}o apeui jaded uo paiuud si }aaqs loej. siq± uieo 3# joj ueid dnuee|Q oj_sddj6v Ajjbj eiqisuodsey 31IS aNfldd^dnS H3AIH OOZV1AIV1VM/M33HO 3DV±HOd/H3dVd Q3I11V Q31S3nD3a 30IAH3S NHni3H CCWT1 I CUIJ 06S£-t,0909 "II 'o6EO|qQ OOV IJ 10QI3 -pA|g UOS>|OBr M LL (rz-IS) uojSjAjQ punpsdns g uojBsy AousBv UOIlOaiOJJ I61U8OIU0JIAU3 saieis paijun Vd3'£ ------- |