EPA Orders Kalamazoo River PCB Removal

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a unilateral order to Georgia-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser and International Paper which requires the removal of PCB-contaminated sediment and soil from a 1.5-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River upstream of the Otsego Township Dam, Otsego, Mich.

This stretch is part of the Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site.

EPA expects work to begin in late summer and be completed by spring 2018.

“Given the ongoing threat of PCB releases, EPA is ordering this time-critical removal action to prevent further contamination of the Kalamazoo River,” said Region 5 Superfund Director Richard Karl.

“EPA’s effort to reach an agreement with Georgia-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser and International Paper to conduct the PCB removal was unsuccessful.”

The PCB-contaminated sediment and soil resulted from paper manufacturing and disposal operations that stopped in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

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