Minutes of January 2023 Meeting

Here are the draft minutes for the January 2023 Monthly Task Force Meeting. They will be approved at the Feb. 15 meeting:

The meeting recording is available at the following web link with the password below, with timestamps included in minutes:

Meeting Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/YnoUeWqESf6j1ZtBvQSvblaVI3v2LseqRHrpJKMt1osxoD5X9xXD30v4BGcy2c2t.QySK34h5V9Vwfcn4?startTime=1674086027000

Passcode: jxi%0d+u

The Zoom meeting included 3 people in-person at City Hall and 13 remote participants. Vice Chairperson Ed Lorenz called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

I.        Additions to Agenda

II.     Approval of November 2022 minutes (there was no meeting in December). Gary Smith moved, Tom Corbett seconded. Motion carried.

III.  Treasurer’s Report: Gary Smith, Treasurer

A.    December 2022

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 $3,834.50. The Edward Jones Account earned $67.56 in interest and stands at $60.067.50. The GCCU General Fund Checking balance stands at $5,762.60 and Share Draft Savings Account remains at $5.00. TAG grant money available for the Former Plant Site (FPS) ended the month at $18,531.70. 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.      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.

IV.  Correspondence and Communication: Ed Lorenz, Vice Chair

A.    MDHHS Eat Safe Fish Guide interim 2023 updates, per executive committee email correspondence. Norm noted that it’s unclear what has been updated and remarked that the species of fish included is unusual. He wishes there would have been information for all fish to show how/if there has been change over time in the advisory. Ed added that most of the changes have focused on a couple of lakes, several small and some Great Lakes. Buried in the report was the implication that other advisories remain in place, for instance, for locations like the Pine River downstream below the dam. Ed noted that it’s distressing that even above the Alma dam that there is mercury contamination. He recommends community members review the guide before fishing. Scott Cornelius pointed out that the guide used to be distributed when fishing licenses were purchased, but now it’s online and difficult to find. He also mentioned that PFAS is now included in list of contaminants, such as near Grand Rapids. Tom Corbett said there is medical research documenting exposures and higher incidents of certain cancers from consumption of fish in the Great Lakes, demonstrating the significance of knowledge about and easy access to the fish guide.

B.     Program: Dr. Corbett discussed his new book, sharing the table of contents and discussing the early history of the central Michigan region. His detailed history of St. Louis explores the region’s first inhabitants, first settlers, and town founders, in addition to the natural features, such as brine, that drew the interest of chemists. His book covers the history of MCC and the poisoning of Michigan (PBB), providing significant insight into the disaster based upon his experience, as well as those of Rick Halbert, Drs. Walter Meester and Rick Salvati, and state legislator Francis “Bus” Spaniola. Other chapters explore the history of the Gratiot County Superfund Sites underscoring the significant work of the CAG. The final part of the book unpacks chemicals and disease, with particular attention to reproductive health, carcinogens/cancers, neurological disorders, endocrine disrupters and epigenetics, and DDT and PBB long-term health outcomes. He thinks chapter 16 is the most interesting to the CAG, as it’s about St. Louis; specifically, it identifies notable intersections with what happened at Love Canal. There are many interesting connections between the two communities, particularly JoAnne Scalf’s Voluntary Health Map and the significance of popular epidemiology projects in demonstrating risk and provoking action.

V.    Technical Assistant Report: Scott Cornelius, Cornelius Environmental Consulting

A.    Updates: Scott began by explaining that when then CAG determined which reports to review with EPA early last year, it was clear there would be many reports that were connected and produced in a short timeframe for both the FPS and VBP. That time is upon us. He said that Gary Smith, CAG Treasurer, will be asking EPA for TA funding to review those reports using TAG funds. Scott also shared information about a few reports that Tom Corbett might find interesting and useful for his book; they underscore the importance of long-term health research and the need for a mechanism to support investigation into human health that can be incorporated in risk assessment.

VI.  EPA Report: Tom Alcamo, FPS Remedial Project Manager

A.    Tom announced that he is retiring at the end of year, so a new RPM for the site will be assigned around June.

B.     PSA 1&2: Sheet pile wall installation and confirmation sampling were completed in mid-December. Data validation is underway and so far, there are no Csat (State of MI Standard) exceedances in PSA 1 and only one in PSA 2 (TRIS). AECOM is currently developing an excavation plan. Inspections were conducted after sheet pile installation and there were no impacts on nearby residential foundations. They are still on schedule for excavation to begin in spring. EPA also started laying out data for the excavation and expect a 20% increase in volume of excavated material, largely because of the practicality of excavation. They did not find any radiological waste during sampling. Five temporary wells were installed. PFOA and PFOS sampling, with some results yet to be validated, as well as low levels of other contaminants. There are no issues with off-site water disposal; EPA will evaluate whether to treat on-site due to finding less water than expected. End of February for excavation plan, with technical meeting with TA next month.

C.     OU-3: EPA is working through contracting for the Remedial Design, with the contract expected to be awarded in February 2023. The first step is to develop the predesign sampling plan with the goal to complete it by the end of September 2023. EPA will begin procuring the construction contractor in August 2023. They plan to use BIL funds to begin cleanup in spring 2024, which is on an accelerated timeline and separate from the FPS—and can be done separately.

D.    OU-4: Tom is working through additional contracting for work by Jacobs between St. Louis Dam to the Chippewa River, which will likely awarded in April 2023. This will include additional fish sampling, additional carbon amendment work (including small mammal study with sampling, worm studies), and habitat studies.

E.     FPS Remedial Design: Perimeter drain geotechnical work is complete, as is the report, which means design is being developed. The MW-19 report is under development. Sampling in PSA 3 for evaluation of Natural Oxidant demand will occur this spring. The upgradient slurry wall report is also under development and likely to be released in the next few months. Design and work on the plant site continues.

F.      City drinking water supply: Well 12 is installed, the pipeline is complete, and they are working on the well house and equipment, which is ready to be installed once the building is constructed. Tom said to expect Well 12 to be operational in June 2023. There are some supply chain issues with the backup generator (the latest is August 2023, but could be longer). For the VBP, two homes have been connected with nine left. There are five agreements and four holdouts for municipal water hook-up in Orchard Hills, but the City expects them to agree (the issue is keeping current wells operational, which the local health department will not allow). This will go out to bid at the end of the month; the City has been working really hard.

G.    Downgradient Vertical Barrier Wall Design: Preliminary design submitted December 23, 2022, which Tom just reviewed. Final design expected in June 2023 with contracting for construction firm to implement that portion of the remedy in May 2024 awarded by end of 2023, with construction in 2024 using BIL funds. The cost is much greater than expected or laid out in the FS, but the money is available.

VII.            EPA Program: Rachel Vaugh, one of the lead design engineers for VBW, delivered a program on Barrier Wall (BW) Alignment.

A.    The BW will be in the river. They are working to reduce the footprint of the wall in the river, in part to reduce costs. There are important considerations for the groundwater collection trench, which led them to route the wall outside of the manholes and header pipes, to avoid potential damage to them. Sheet pile anchoring installation will be noisy. Gary pointed out that they used the impact hammer at the FPS and it was noisy. Tom confirmed that it was used to finish driving the sheet pile into the till, and they were happy to know that there was no damage to foundations.

1.      Gary followed up asking about the sand seams, with fear that there could be one. Tom said that they will drive the piling 5 to 10 feet below the till unit, that they won’t chase sand seams. He also said they will do a lower aquifer study at the VBP, so if they find evidence of contaminants outside the site boundary, then they will have to capture it. Gary then asked for clarification on how far into the Pine River the wall would be, from shoreline. Rachel answered close to 50 feet and 15 from the groundwater collection trench. Because they are filling in the area, they have to determine whether there has to be compensatory floodplain remedial action, but the analysis has shown that the flood maps managed by FEMA have never considered the excavation for the OU-2 remedy (600,000 cubic yards). The perimeter drain is an important consideration here, too, Tom pointed out, arguing that it might be the most important part of the remediation. Jim asked about how/if the vibration for sheet piling will impact work on site (i.e. collection piping) and/or if there will be monitoring or testing to confirm. Tom said that the design is in progress, but that they assume the contractor will consider. Scott Pratt said the current collection pipe, if it can be called that, will be enclosed within the site, so not monitored, but there is discussion of how the groundwater collection tile might be influenced; they are thinking about it. Tom asked Scott C. about a technical meeting soon, ideally February.

VIII.         VBP Update – Jennifer Knoepfle, Remedial Project Manager

A.    Burn Pit contracting and funding schedule: The contract is not yet awarded, but there has been much progress and discussion since November, as evidenced by extensive correspondence details she shared. Contracting is a very arduous process. The biggest challenge is that Jacobs’ proposal came in significantly higher than expected, so they are working to address the numbers. The new package is due at the end of this week. Jennifer hopes that after review, the contract may be awarded in early February (she thinks March) with fieldwork starting May/June 2023. Tom C. asked about possible costs for cleaning up the Burn Pit, but Jennifer cannot yet answer because of the contractor’s presence at the meeting. They are not trying to cut costs to take shortcuts; rather, a significant portion of the last proposal included wastewater treatment, which EPA asked for, instead of discharging it into the Pine River (which is what they did at the FPS). They also don’t know what the discharged water will look like—they do have estimations based upon FPS that are scientifically sound—so this places more risk on EPA and the state.

B.     Tom advised the CAG to start spending down the TAG money for the VBP. For instance, we could request that Scott C. do a history of the VBP, so we are up to speed on what has/n’t been done. VBP never made it to NPL in 1983, even though it was proposed; it was added in 2010 by EGLE. Ed said it’s amazing that we thought Velsicol cleaned it up. Jim said we’re approaching 25 years, so it’s our silver anniversary and our optimism is the silver lining. Jennifer said we have the funding to do this work, we are doing work, that is the silver lining, it’s a priority now.

IX.  EGLE: Erik Martinson, Project Manager

A.    The parcels held under the custodial trust, all but one, have been transferred over to the SLBA. The remaining parcel is the property adjacent to the Colthorps—there were some last minute questions by homeowners which have delayed conveyance of property. Erik tried to answer questions and they still want the property. The deed was sent to the county last week for recording. Hopefully in the next week or so we will get the final property transferred over.

X.    Other

A.    Ed tabled the remainder of the agenda, noting that we can communicate updates via email this week or early next, including registration for the conference in May 18-20 and information from Diane Russell about the EPA Environmental Justice Division’s involvement. He adjourned the meeting at 9:00 pm.

 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, February 15, 2023.

 Meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.

 Respectfully submitted,

 Brittany Fremion, Secretary