SERA

United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

Informational open houses

EPA is holding two identical open
house sessions Wednesday, Nov. 7, so
you can learn more about the latest
developments in the Kalamazoo
River cleanup.

Both will be at the Comfort Inn,
622 Allegan St., Plainwell, Mich.
You may attend either session, from
1:30-3 p.m. or 6:30-8 p.m. Formal
presentations will be at 1:45 p.m. and
6:45 p.m.

EPA representatives and other
officials will be available to discuss
site activities with you individually.
If you need special accommodations,
contact EPA Community
Involvement Coordinator Don
de Blasio (see below) by Oct. 31.

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 (P-19J)

77 W. Jackson Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60604-3590
312-886-4360 or 800-621-8431,
Ext. 64360, weekdays 10 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

Plainwel l PCB Cleanup
Progress and Updates

Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site

Kalamazoo, Michigan	October 2007

The project to remove PCB-contaminated sediment (mud) from the
Kalamazoo River's Plainwell Impoundment is on schedule. Workers dredged
up 17,325 cubic yards, or 495 truckloads, of sediment through Oct. 3.

The Kalamazoo River Superfund area stretches from Saugatuck on Lake
Michigan to the Morrow Dam. Contractors hired by Millennium Holdings
LLC and Georgia-Pacific LLC are doing the work. The two companies are
legally responsible for the pollution.

Polychlorinated 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).

So far, workers have removed sediment and restored the hanks along some
6,800 feet of river bank. This includes removal areas 1, 2, 3A and B, 4A
and B, 5, and 6A and B (see map on Page 2). They have started work in the
Phase 1 coffer dam area with construction of the western water diversion
structure (Phase 1 coffer dam), which will maintain the current flow of the
river over the eastern spillway area. That allows workers to dredge behind
the dam, build a water control structure and remove the dam in the former
powerhouse area.

Under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency regulates the use, storage and disposal of sediment with
PCB concentrations exceeding 50 parts per million, or ppm. One part PCB
per million parts sediment is a tiny amount, similar to one second in 12
days. So far, workers have sent 2,345 cubic yards of sediment with PCBs
above 50 ppm to Environmental Quality Co.'s Wayne Disposal Landfill in

Dredging operations on the Kalamazoo River downstream of the US-131 bridge.


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REMOVAL
AREA 9A

REMOVAL
AREA 6A

REMOVAL
-AREA 8

REMOVAL
AREAS

.LAND 2

^ISLANO 3

REMOVAL
AREA 6B

MID CHANNEL AREA C

REMOVAL
AREA 4A

UPLAND AREA 4B1

REMOVAL
AREA 10B

UPLAND AREA 3A2

MID-CHANNEL
AREA B

\\ UPLAND AREA 5A1

REMOVAL
AREA 3A

REMOVAL
AREA 11B

REMOVAL
AREA 3B

REMOVAL
AREA 2

Map courtesy of the Kalamazoo River Study Group

Targeted Removal Areas—Former Plainwell Impoundment

Belleville, Mich. Another 14,980 cubic yards of sediment,
considered non-hazardous at less than 50 ppm, went to
Allied Waste's C and C Landfill near Marshall, Mich.

Dredging will cease during the winter. When it resumes
in the spring of 2008, all sediment will be sent off-site
to approved facilities for disposal. Millennium Holdings
and Georgia-Pacific agreed to that plan earlier this year.
The two companies will recommend, for EPA approval,
commercial disposal facilities with the proper permits.

Mill updates

Removal work was completed in June at the Georgia-
Pacific Kalamazoo Mill and former Hawthorne Mill. An
inspection was conducted in July. EPA and state partner
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality are
reviewing the final project report that was submitted in
September.

At the Plainwell Mill, preliminary work (removing frees
and shrubs) has begun on a project to remove paper
residuals from the banks of the mill. MDEQ, EPA, city
of Plainwell and Weyerhaeuser are still discussing the
details of the plan for this work. They are also working on
the scope of a study to determine the nature and extent of
contamination at the mill.

Kalamazoo River/Portage Creek
supplemental cleanup studies

A February 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 river between Morrow Dam and
Plainwell, and the creek between Cork Street and the
river. Work started in this area the week of Sept. 24.

Silt screens keep contaminated mud under control

Eventually the dredging project will remove about 132,000
cubic yards of sediment containing 4,400 pounds of PCBs.
The estimated cost is $30 million. The project is expected
to continue through the fall of 2008.

2


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Other cleanup actions

In addition to the Plainwell Impoundment cleanup,
developments on other parts of the Kalamazoo River site
this summer include:

•	EPA is reviewing an MDEQ study on the nature and
extent of contamination at the Allied Paper Landfill.
When it is completed at the end of this year, those
responsible for the pollution will use it to develop
cleanup alternatives. After studying the alternatives,
EPA will issue a document called a "proposed plan."
EPA will then seek comments from the public.

•	Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill will be capped
and a monitoring network installed. EPA is working
with the responsible parties about designing and
implementing a final cleanup plan for the work that
is expected to begin in 2008.

•	Weyerhaeuser is near completion on reshaping the
eastern slope of the 12th Street Landfill. This work
was done under Weyerhaeuser's agreement with EPA
to clean up this part of the Kalamazoo River site.
The reshaping will protect the landfill and prevent
erosion when the river is rerouted to its original
channel - part of the overall design for the Plainwell
Impoundment. Weyerhaeuser dug up contaminated
sediment from the channel next to the landfill,
placed the sediment in the landfill and re-graded the
eastern edge of the facility that lies alongside the

channel. On top of this new slope, Weyerhaeuser
constructed erosion control measures that will
contain the contaminated materials in the landfill
when water is flowing along the bank of the 12th
Street Landfill.

• Georgia-Pacific completed the removal of hazardous
waste from certain areas of its Kalamazoo mill
and sediment from nearby floodplains. Most of
this waste was consolidated with the material in
the Willow Boulevard/A-Site Landfill and will be
capped as part of the final cleanup for that part of the
Kalamazoo site.

At left, river-run rock helps create a stable shoreline along
portions of the Kalamazoo River with higher water velocities.
Native vegetation is planted, center, to return the shoreline to a
more natural appearance.

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.

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Plainwell PCB Cleanup
Progress and Updates

Informational open houses
Wednesday, Nov. 7
(details inside)


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