&EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency For more information See page 3 for updated contact information for EPA, other federal, state and local officials who are working on this site. Information repository A complete file of documents regarding the site is at: Forest Township 130 E. Main St. Otisville, Mich. 48463 810-631-4997 Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. — 4 p.m. Websites E PA Forest Waste Page www. epa. gov/ superfund/forest- waste-products/ MDEQ www.michigan.gov/deqsuperfund Genesee County Department of Health http://www.gchd.us/ ATSDR http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ toxprofiles/TPasp?id=955&tid= 199 Update: EPA Oversees Groundwater Sampling Forest Waste Products Site Otisville, Michigan July 2016 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing cleanup work on contaminated groundwater from a former landfill. As part of the site cleanup, the Forest Waste Coordinating Committee is collecting samples annually from a series of monitoring wells. The committee is a group of companies that cleaned up a nearby former landfill. In 2011, a chemical compound called 1,4-dioxane was detected above levels requiring action in monitoring wells near the site boundaries. The chemical is detected in the "groundwater," an environmental term for underground supplies of fresh water. Because of the sampling detections, 1,4-dioxane was added to the annual groundwater- monitoring program. The extent of 1,4-dioxane contamination was defined even more this year and is shown on the figure below. J Approximate Property Boundary County Parcels Approximate 1,4 Dioxane Plume Extent 7.2 - 85 (pg/L) > 85 (jjg/L) Site boundaries and extent of groundwater contamination. ------- History and background The Forest Waste Products site covers 120 acres located in Forest Township, Genesee County, Mich. Waste disposal areas on-site include an 11-acre landfill. The site is surrounded by residential areas, farmland, wetlands, wood lots, a gravel quarry and a small lake. The former site owners received a state license in 1972 to dispose of general refuse and industrial and liquid waste. Waste was accepted between 1973 and 1978 and disposed of on-site in the former landfill and several lagoons that used to be located on-site. Soil in the former lagoon area was contaminated with metals, PCBs, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. The state did not renew the license in 1978 due to operational and other violations. The former lagoons were cleaned up in 1989 and the landfill capped in 1997. Groundwater monitoring has been taking place both on- and off-site since 1993. Area residences use private wells for drinking water. Groundwater sampling originally showed groundwater contamination limited to the original site area and east of the former landfill. However, later sampling has shown the contamination extends off-site to the north and west, requiring further investigation and action. Cleanup progress Cleanup has been ongoing since the 1980's at the landfill and lagoon areas. In 1994 a group of companies known as the Forest Waste Coordinating Committee entered into an agreement with EPA to complete all the cleanup work at the site including the groundwater. Sampling by both EPA and the Forest Waste Coordinating Committee shows contamination moving off-site to the north and northwest of the former landfill. Annual sampling of nearby residential wells began in 2001. In 2002, groundwater sampling indicated contamination had moved beyond the site boundary. In 2011, EPA requested 1,4-dioxane be added to the annual groundwater sampling list. Results show the groundwater contains low levels of 1,4-dioxane, but the pollution is moving off-site. As a result, the committee investigated how far the contamination has moved. Since all residents in the area use residential wells for drinking water, EPA required sampling of the private wells to see if they contain any contaminants from the site. In early 2015, samples were collected from 15 residential wells so that they could be sampled for the presence of VOCs and 1,4-dioxane. Six of the sampled wells, which were at a depth of 30-50 feet, showed low levels of 1,4-dioxane. Although What is 1,4-dioxane? 1,4-dioxane is a widely employed, synthetic industrial chemical used mainly in making solvents. It is also found in personal consumer products such as deodorants, shampoos and cosmetics. It is one of the contaminants EPA has found at the Forest Waste Products site. Exposure may occur through breathing vapors, swallowing contaminated food and water, or skin contact. EPA has determined exposure to high levels of 1,4-dioxane over many years is associated with human cancers. No federal standard for 1,4-dioxane in drinking water has been established, but Michigan has set limits. Adding to the health risks, the compound is also highly mobile and does not easily degrade in the environment. You can read much more about 1,4-dioxane on a website published by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/TP.asp?id=955&tid=199. 2 ------- concentrations found were within a safe range and below both the current and future state drinking water cleanup standards for 1,4-dioxane, the Forest Waste Coordinating Committee voluntarily offered replacement wells to the six property owners. These wells are drilled into a much deeper, bedrock aquifer containing no site pollution. This work has been completed at four properties where residents agreed to a replacement well. Community involvement EPA has prepared and distributed a number of fact sheets to update the community on progress and conditions at the site. In 2005, EPA organized a comment period and public meeting on the groundwater cleanup plan. Other meetings and open houses were held in 2007 and 2015 to update residents. Next steps This March, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality proposed to greatly strengthen the drinking water cleanup standard for 1,4-dioxane. In scientific terms, the new rule would change the 1,4-dioxane drinking water limits in Michigan from 85 parts of the chemical per billion parts water to 7.2 parts per billion parts water. Parts per billion are abbreviated ppb in scientific and technical literature. The results from the 1,4-dioxane groundwater investigation will be used to design a plan to do further work at the site and update the groundwater-monitoring program. This plan is currently being drafted and once reviewed, EPA and MDEQ will inform residents of findings and recommend future actions. EPA will also complete a five-year review report on the site by 2017. The five-year review is required for sites where contamination remains on-site. A periodic review helps determine if past cleanup work is still protecting human health and the environment. Contacts EPA MDEO Genesee Countv Health DeDartment Leslie Blake Nic Dawson Brian S. Hungerford Remedial Project Manager Project Manager Environmental Sanitarian 312-353-7921 Superfund Section - RRD 810-257-3822 blake.leslie@epa.gov 517-284-5084 bhungerford@gchd.us Dawsonnl@michigan.gov Diane Russell Forest TownshiD Community Involvement Coordinator Mary Ann Price 989-401-5507 Supervisor russell.diane@epa.gov 810-631-6040 mprice@foresttwp.com Region 5 toll-free 800-621-8431, weekdays, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 3 ------- Learn about the cleanup progress and community involvement activities for the Forest Waste Products Site. 6ui|dujes ja;eMpunoj0 saasjeAO Vd3 :31V0dfl 3XIS SlOnOOdd 31SVM lS3UOd £090911 'o6bo!L)q •PAIS uos>|OBr AA LL (rz-IS) uojSjAiQ punpadns g uo|6ay vd3 ST1 AousBv uo!)oa)OJd |E}usluuoj!au3 ss)E}s pajiun VcfiU ------- |