February 2023 Minutes
PINE RIVER SUPERFUND CITIZEN TASK FORCE
General Membership Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February15, 2023
The meeting recording is available at the following web link with the password below.
Meeting Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/cgyoMx4YIyrwJVihtuXfcIq6WN43UjaelJDmrs2N7n
Passcode: C=XNiu!7
The meeting included 19-21 participants via Zoom only. Chair Jane Jelenek called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
I. Additions to agenda
II. Approval of January minutes with corrections. Gary Smith moved, George Kubin seconded.
III. Treasurer’s Report: Gary Smith, Treasurer
A. January 2023
1. Gary moved $60,000 from the Mercantile Money Market Account (Oxford Automotive settlement) into an Edward Jones account for a better interest rate, per executive committee approval. The Mercantile Account ended the month with $3,835.34. The Edward Jones Account earned $211.79 in interest and stands at $60.279.35. The GCCU General Fund Checking balance stands at $6,498.54 and Share Draft Savings Account remains at $5.00. TAG grant money available for the Former Plant Site (FPS) ended the month at $17,498.26. The Velsicol Burn Pit (VBS) remains at $48,698.38. Velsicol Burn Pit (VBP) Fund Checking has $88.32. The complete reports will be attached to the permanent minutes.
2. The CAG Executive Committee approved funding for food at the upcoming PBB Disaster at 50 Conference at Alma College to help promote our work and support the proceedings.
3. Memberships are $5/year and t-shirts are still available. Send checks to PO Box 172, St. Louis, MI 48880. The website has photos of t-shirts and visitors can also donate to the CAG that way.
II. Correspondence and Communication: Jane Jelenek, Chairperson
A. The CAG provided a letter of support for Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health application for an NIEHS grant for the Michigan PBB Registry studies.
B. There as a recent article in the Morning Sun about the MDHHS fish consumption guidelines.
C. Jane Jelenek and Brittany Fremion presentation to an Oakland University Environmental Health and Safety Student organization. There were about 10 students involved in the meeting, in addition to their instructors and advisor. JoAnne Scalf reminded Jane and Brittany that they have her permission to share her work on the Multigenerational Voluntary Health Map, as well as asked for information about upcoming presentations.
III. Technical Advisor Report: Scott Cornelius, Cornelius Environmental Consulting
A. Scott is starting to review materials with EPA approvals for the TAG program and funding. He will present his review of the materials to the Executive Committee next month.
B. He also asked (and JoAnne agreed) to know in advance about guest lectures, as well as for opportunities to see some of the presentations. Tom Alcamo offered to share videos and other materials related to the site to be included in talks. Jane noted that she did a presentation for the group years ago that she did for the governor’s group to get feedback, so this is a welcome idea. Brittany's talks focus more on the oral history project with some snapshots of participant stories, it's a longer presentation but she would be happy to provide remote access when doing the talk on campus for CMU classes.
IV. EPA Report Velsicol Site Updates [00:26:45]: Tom Alcamo, Project Manager
A. PSA-1, extra disposal costs — Removal of 100,000 tons with contractor AECOM working on the excavation plan to ensure health and safety, done in early March with presentation by April. The volumes are increasing, between at least 20-25% increase. Also working on overall schedule with goal to complete the excavation this year, unless volume increase and associated cost hinder. This will be a big deep hole in some locations, and Tom wants to be sure they do things appropriately and safely. In addition to extra disposal costs, come transportation and equipment costs.
B. Downgradient vertical barrier wall (DGVBW) – Technical meeting forthcoming based upon review by CAG TA (Rachel and Scott P. provided an overview last month). Something they are working through is the final cap. They are planning on asking state for approval to use a bentonite mat. The cap is going to be important work, especially in collaboration with EGLE.
1. Tom shared a figure and explained that a bentonite mat might be used as an option to avoid seven more feet of height on the plant site. The mat equals 2-3 feet of compacted clay. Scott C. said this is a technology that is used commonly and doesn’t expect the state to push back, as it’s an accepted remedy. This would lower the height of the cap, which is a change. Gary noted that with floodplain issues due to climate change, they worry whether a lower cap is going to be safe. Tom said that with the dam, there is an ability to control river elevation, but it is being taken into consideration. Scott P. added that the cap design will raise the flooding elevation across the site around 4 feet, especially moving away from the river, so it would push any flooding downstream along with the dam. The analysis will be part of the cap design.
2. The farthest they will go into the river is 50 feet in order to get around the manholes and tie backs. That 50 feet will be filled in. They hope to have design ready by June/July, with contracting started soon after. Tom thinks they’ll have a contract awarded by end of 2023. PSA 1 & 2 shouldn’t affect the work, but the VBP may.
Tom feels confident that the downgradient vertical barrier wall work will start in early 2024.
3. will need additional wall and supports for strength - preliminary design released and Scott will review it;. Something they are working on is the final cap.
C. OU-3 contract awarded for design (i.e. to excavate stream banks and floodplains from dam to 1.2 miles downstream). Sampling event will begin this spring and the design should be done by end of 2023. Contracting will go out at end of year and excavation and disposal in 2024. The quick pace is to take advantage of BIL funding while it is available.
D. The perimeter drain report will be released at the end of the week, following the geotechnical work recently completed. The drain will collect the shallow outwash to be treated at an onsite plant.
E. Proposed schedule — EPA will have a big meeting in April with the state, Jacobs, and Region 5 to figure out off-site work and groundwater predesign work, slated for later this summer. This includes the well near retirement center (MW-31) and some off-site measurement levels being near the drinking water standard, so they will do additional sampling and it will include PFAS sampling.
F. MW-19 investigation to evaluate new groundwater collection trench — Report coming at end of the month. Haven't seen much NAPL yet over there, so Tom doesn’t know if there will be a trench in the river.
G. OU-4 — EPA just received validated data, so Phase II Report for the Carbon Amendment Study should be available late spring/summer 2023. They are also preparing for a large amount of contracting work with Jacobs, such as additional fish sampling and work downstream.
H. EPA contracting — Is swamped. Tom mentioned that the agency is working to resolve some of the contracting challenges, which he can report back on this summer.
I. Slurry Wall Investigation Report is being developed; expect it in late spring.
J. VBP — Tom is working with Kurt Giles and the City to get the drinking water contract out next week, with water hookups by the VBP done this summer. Five of nine residences are on board with four holdouts.
K. Tom hopes by 2026 that EPA is starting work on the cap, but this is dependent upon money, especially funding for design. He noted, “We’ve been successful so far.”
1. 2023
a) PSA 1 & 2 complete
b) Award contract for DGVBW
c) Finish OU-3 design
d) Finish VBP drinking water supply
e) Finish Well-12 of City Drinking Water Supply (last of City drinking water supply, with a little ongoing work to monitor per the cooperative agreement)
2. 2024
a) DGVBW construction
b) OU-3 cleanup
c) Possible additional work based upon design work
L. Upgradient perimeter wall – Still have to determine the depth of the cap, which has to tie into a new wall on residential side.
V. Community Involvement Plan Updates - Diane Russell, EPA
A. There have been some contracting issues with the final report following the 5 year review, but a draft community involvement plan should be available by summer.
B. We have also been working with the EJ program to leverage resources for the upcoming conference, which includes a non-compete grant for about $30,000 to support those efforts.
VI. EPA Report Burn Pit Site Update: Jennifer Knoepfle, Project Manager
A. Contract - Jennifer shared updates on the contracting timeline, which included communication and reviews of proposals with additional adjustments. Jacobs provided additional information and since then, EPA has worked on finishing the justification for the contractor, which is going through the various levels of approvals. Jennifer hopes that it will only take a few more days and that the contract will be awarded by early March with fieldwork beginning in May/June 2023.
B. Gary asked for a refresher on the discharged treated water and the decision to maintain that part given the extreme cost of evaporating it or finding a different way of disposing of the water. EPA couldn’t get the cost of doing so approved so they are sticking with the same plan used at the FPS; EPA still has to meet same state water criteria. Jennifer noted that it will be more expensive to clean up the river if criteria are exceeded, but that’s a risk that EPA HQ is willing to take. Tom added that there is a lot more soil to treat at the VBP. The site will be in excess of $30 million. Tom commended Jennifer for her work behind the scenes, too, knowing she has had to work really hard answering questions and jumping through hoops. He noted that he’s grateful she's on the project because not many people have her expertise.
C. Access road — One of the first things to be built on site. EPA has to lease the land in order to do so; they aren’t using the existing road because it’s between two homes with small children, so they are working to get access to land north of there. Jennifer reports a verbal agreement for a lease cost to do the access road, but they can’t do anything until they have the contract in place. When the contract is awarded, Tom explained Jennifer has to hand over the $30 million to Jacobs. Jane reminded the group how the CAG was able to communicate with residents and help negotiate and navigate the process. This might be especially helpful with the residential drinking water hookups.
D. Gary asked for confirmation that the VBP would use the water treatment plant at the FPS, so they will have to find a way to move it across the river for treatment.
VII. EGLE Report: Erik Martinson, Project Manager
A. All but one property has been transferred from the custodial trust to the state land bank; the remaining property has been conveyed to the resident (Colthorps).
B. Surface Soil excavation at 202 S. Watson — Weston is finishing up bit specs for excavation and should have materials ready for review next week. With Erik’s review,
they can get it out for bid in the next few weeks. This keeps them on schedule for the spring 2023 timeline. They are slated to remove an estimated 50 cubic yards. Erik will keep us updated.
C. Jane asked Erik about EGLE’s perspective on cutting off 50 more feet of riverbed for the perimeter wall. She noted that the river will be narrowed and asked whether EGLE has any concern about it. Erik said that the placement of the barrier wall has always been in the river. Scott P. clarified that the average distance is 25 feet, but where there are manholes it’s closer to 50 feet. He also offered that they are looking into permitting requirements with EGLE and the Army Corps of Engineers, with understandable concern about the floodplain. The floodplain maps haven’t been updated since sediment excavation, which means that isn’t accounted for and is good news, but that there needs to be discussion. Erik noted that there is a wetland meeting on the books for tomorrow, too; hopefully, this will come up. Lastly, Jane asked what the manholes are for and Scott P. said they are part of the collection system in the river right now.
VIII. New Business: None
IX. Ongoing Business:
A. PBB Leadership Team Update – Norm Keon reported on the cohort infrastructure renewal grant to expand the cohort of people participating in the Michigan PBB Registry, such as individuals from southeastern Michigan and the Detroit area, who likely have exposures. Liz Braddock and Norm submitted a letter of support for the grant, too, like the CAG. We also spent a good amount of time talking about the conference, too. Brittany also shared updates on the continuing medical education course (CME) and new testing device that the Registry might adopt to collect blood samples moving forward.
1. JoAnne Scalf noted the importance of the Registry team’s work, particularly the CME course. She recalled that when Emory developed the FAQ sheet for physicians, that she made copies and distributed them to more than 300 physicians in state.
B. PBB 50th Commemoration Update – Brittany Fremion, Ed Lorenz
1. Brittany shared the link to the conference website, which includes details such as the links for tickets for in-person participants (the event will also be live-streamed), tentative conference schedule, and PBB hero nominations: https://arcg.is/1LeHHP
2. Ed shared updates on the presenters, noting that keynote speaker Elena Conis has a graduate student who will help with event promotion and outreach, as well as possibly participant in organizing committee meetings. There also appears to be significant interest from organizers and researchers engaged with other communities exposed to DDT. For instance, Ed also shared that Jose Aguillo from the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (which formed under Lois Gibbs and what happened at Love Canal) reached out. They are really interested in what we're doing, especially regarding health and environmental remediation. So there is a lot of interest within and beyond our community, which means we should have a really interesting mix of people who participate.
3. Joanne noted “we’re no longer in the news desert—and we’re seasoned now.” Tom added, “we can learn a lot from those people, and they can learn a lot from us. It's a great idea to get them involved.”
4. Jane asked about press releases and is willing to help. Ed mentioned that Elena’s grad student is also going to be helping out, too.
5. Jim Hall spoke about holding the CAG hall of fame ceremony at conference because we didn’t nominate anyone in 2022 and it would be a good opportunity to recognize CAG members along with PBB heroes.
6. Diane is going to need numbers for the site visits, which will help the EPA team get prepared and ensure the tours are safe and informative. The on-site team said they can accommodate 25-30 people at a time, especially if the weather is nice and they can talk outside under an awning.
7. For the field trips the community was adamant about having a charter bus to carry people from point to point.
Please remember to pay membership dues ($5/year). Send check to PO Box 172, St. Louis, MI 48880. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Brittany Fremion, Secretar