News Story on Tuesday, July 26 US EPA Hearing on Downriver Remediation
Greg Nelson, “Public input sought on river cleanup: EPA taking feedback on proposed cleanup plan for portion of the Pine River,” The Morning Sun July 22, 2022
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking input on a proposed cleanup plan for a portion of the Pine River. A 30-day public comment period began July 15 regarding remediation efforts on what is known as Operable Unit 3 of the Velsicol Chemical Co. Superfund site in St. Louis. The portion of the river where the cleanup would take place runs from the city’s municipal dam downstream about 1.5 miles.
A virtual meeting regarding the proposed plan will be hosted by EPA Region 5 officials at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Those interested can join by going to the agency’s website at www.epa.gov/superfund/velsicolchemcial- michigan and clicking on the meeting link. It’s also available by phone by calling 872-813-0592 and providing the conference ID number of 109 733 416#.
The EPA and Michigan Department of Environmental, Great Lakes and Energy have studied the risks to human health in that section of the river for the past few years. Based on the investigations the agencies identified DTT, PBB and HBB as contaminants of concern in OU3.
According to EPA officials the biggest threat is DDT because it poses unacceptable hazards and risks to people eating fish caught in that section of the river. An advisory warning to anglers about the risks of consuming fish caught in the entire downriver portion of the river has been in effect for nearly 50 years.
The EPA studies also concluded that DDT contamination is present in steam sediment, surface water and floodplain soil. The cleanup plan being proposed by the agency is to excavate the floodplain and riverbank soils and dispose of it in an approved landfill. It would then backfill those areas with clean soil and stabilize the riverbank to prevent further erosion.
The estimated cost of the remediation is $6.6 million.The EPA believes the plan would “provide the best balance of the evaluation criteria among all the alternatives” because it would protect human health and the environment, meet all state and federal cleanup standards and agency objectives, and would be the most cost effective in the long term.
Those who cannot attend the virtual meeting can make written comments on the EPA website or send them to Adrian Palomeque, community involvement coordinator, U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604 postmarked by Aug. 13. Once the public comment period has ended the agency will review and compile the input received. The final remediation plan will be published in a document called the “record of decision” and made available on the EPA website.