General Membership Meeting Minutes – November 18, 2020
The meeting began at 6:55 pm via Zoom with Secretary Brittany Fremion as host, with 17-20 participants.
Chairperson Jane Keon called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.
Approval of October minutes (Liz/Wayne).
Treasurer’s Report [00:01:00]: Gary Smith, Treasurer
The General Fund Checking balance stands at $65,048.07. The Money Market Account (Oxford Automotive settlement) has $4,782.61. TAG grant money available for the Former Plant Site (FPS) stands at $22,359.26. The Velsicol Burn Pit (VBS) has $48,744.28. Velsicol Burn Pit (VBP) Fund Checking $85.62. The complete reports will be attached to the permanent minutes.
Gary has been busy this month, working on the following:
He is still awaiting approval of September and October billing, which can often take time, but expenses are outstanding.
The VBP TAG extension request still pending.
EPA is switching to new grant system which will go live in early December and might be the cause of delays. Moreover, we have a new project manager at EPA Region 5 headquarters.
Gary followed up with Erik Martinson (EGLE) on work plan for Railroad spur, as promised at October meeting.
He received a phone call from EPA reiterating the agency’s final decision regarding the appeal about a bill for our technical consultant.
Gary will follow-up with Tom/EPA about downriver property owners for carbon study sampling releases, per discussion at October meeting.
Correspondence and Communication [00:11:00]: Jane Keon, Chair
News article in Morning Sun about former CAG member, Murray Borrello, appointed to the state’s Environmental Permit Review Commission. The CAG is excited about the appointment and extends congratulations.
News articles in Morning Sun and Gratiot County Herald about new leak in old slurry wall. These articles prompted calls from community members requesting clarification on whether the leak was a new discovery, which Jane clarified, as well as sent an email to the reporter to clarify that while there were old issues with the slurry wall, this was a newly discovered leak and to reinforce the difference moving forward.
Letter to state senators about Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) contract language. See remarks under Old Business.
Program [00:13:38]: Theme Backgrounds for New Website, Ed Lorenz, Vice Chair
New layout inspired by review of other non-profit websites, particularly those related to environmental issues (i.e. Audubon Society, Circle of Blue, Nature Conservancy). Key features:
Fundraising is a primary focus—efforts to acquire donations to support long-term health studies as well as work of CAG.
Images that are visually appealing, as well as help tell important stories, with quick links that facilitate navigation.
Headings in tool bars are clear and concise, as well as reflect areas of focus.
Clear mission and goals.
Themes available on WordPress website are in the thousands. Ed requests suggestions or top choices from CAG members. Choices should be guided by:
Visual appeal — Easy to read, clear purpose, concise in narrative.
Whether the site will convey information quickly and easily — Many websites focus on membership as the primary audience, as opposed to being a tool for (a) outreach and recruitment, which we aim to do, as well as (b) provide information on contamination, CAG activity, and collaborations.
Headings and themes revised based upon keywords and purpose:
Home (Mission, Membership, Contact, Meetings, Minutes, Leadership Team, Finances, Legal Background, Bylaws)
Our Work (Location, Partners, Public Officials and Agencies, Private Stakeholders, Media)
Time Line
Resources (Documents, Photos, Films/Videos, Names & Terms)
Get Involved (Contact Form, PBB Registry, Elected Officials)
Press Room (recent news stories)
Store (Membership, Donation, Buy Stuff)
Materials Needed:
Good photos, especially of meetings and community (send to lorenz@alma.edu)
Short (two-sentence) bios from board members that explains their work with and connection to the community, as well as a phone number and email address, and photo.
Decide on a phone number for the CAG — whose?
Get an agreed upon email for the CAG.
Discussion
There is a place for site visitors to submit questions to the CAG, but there was difficulty accessing them and many of the messages were junk/spam. Be sure that there is a filter, but also, an opportunity for communication.
The CAG is grateful that Ed has taken this on, especially with his experience and work with the organization since its formation. (Thanks, Ed!)
Technical Report [00:43:00]: Scott Cornelius, Cornelius Environmental Consulting
In August EPA released the data evaluation report for up-gradient slurry wall (UGSW) investigation (i.e. existing slurry wall) and in September they released the findings of carbon amendment pilot study phase one. Scott had a technical meeting with EPA consultants, EGLE, and Alma College, from which he developed list of questions over two topics and presentations.
Slurry Wall: EPA has released brief summaries, which are overall optimistic. Critical review of both the UGSW and carbon amendment pilot study, however, do not support some of the findings. For instance, EPA reports that the UGSW is performing as designed, but their findings revealed a new leak in a portion of the wall EPA seeks to reuse. The purpose of the investigation was to determine if part of the slurry wall could be reused to save money, despite long-term failure of the rest of the wall, but the CAG is opposed to being pennywise if it would endanger community health and wellbeing. Moreover, the investigation was limited (i.e. the wall is 3,100 feet long, EPA took 5 samples amounting to 1.25 feet total). They also found an area where construction materials did not meet minimum requirements to prevent penetration/movement of groundwater. Scott will consult with the CAG executive committee to work out final comments and questions for EPA, which are lengthy and detailed.
Carbon Study: Similar issues. EPA reports evidence of binding with contaminants, particularly DDT, downriver from the dam. Sampling of worms prior to application of carbon and post application showed 60% decrease in contaminants, but the data for background worms without treatment showed 84% reduction. So there must have been many uncontrolled variables causing differences, such as the variation in the concentrations of chemicals in soils and sediments. The variation in sampling could account for that reduction, but data doesn’t demonstrate if carbon had any affect or if it was just variation in sediments. EPA intends to do another phase and perhaps this is something that should be taken into consideration.
Also, to bind, carbon has to be in direct contact with contamination and, in this study, application was only in the top inch of surface soils and distributed widely, but this is not an adequate form of delivery for the remedy as again, there may be migration and variation in concentrations of contaminants at deeper levels. This is a common stumbling block—finding a good way to deliver a treatment. Even if there were a 100% reduction in the top inch, there could still be contamination below, which could continue to move. We have to remember that these contaminants bioaccumulate and biomagnify. The treatment therefore seems to have many problems, which phase one did not figure out.
Solid phase micro-extraction conducted with Alma College Lab collaboration, the absorption process is known as bioavailability wherein a fiber is intended to absorb DDT, similar to how worms do. However, worms migrate through different levels and therefore are exposed to variety of contaminants. This is why, for instance, in fish consumption advisory studies they use native rather than caged fish because they move throughout the ecosystem. Fibers don’t move, worms do. EPA must proceed with worm collection and not depend on fibers.
Another question the CAG continues to ask is: what species of worms inhabit the floodplain? This is just as important with fish consumption studies. These differences matter.
Another missing component of the carbon amendment study is the dose and response curve. This requires lab work but will help with interpretation of field data. The carbon amendment study (and Dr. Harwood’s conclusions) demonstrate that there are not enough samples taken or replicas, or statistical analysis about spreading the material (visual observations vs. quantitative measurements).
Essentially, the design of study was inefficient to achieve the goals outlined and the CAG has many comments and questions.
Discussion [01:05:00]
What is being done to monitor the groundwater in St. Louis with the breach in the slurry wall?
Diane Russell, EPA: There is no indication that there is an imminent or immediate threat and if there were, there is a mechanism that would be triggered. ANPs are on city water, there are monitoring wells in the neighborhood, and there has been sampling.
Liz Braddock, MMDHD: There is long-term (annual) sampling of wells not yet connected to city water. This is groundwater monitoring for those residents currently using wells for drinking water. This includes 10-11 properties, under contract for 2021 to be connected to city water soon.
Jane Keon requested information from EPA for the location of monitoring wells in the neighborhood itself.
Diane: There are monitoring wells in ANP and included in the work plan, which is available on the website.
Concern expressed about ANPs with basements that get water seepage regularly, which was groundwater related and demonstrates that this isn’t just a drinking water issue. How do we know if there is monitoring or whether there may be issues with this?
Jane proposed another survey of ANP, which Jim and Gary undertook a few years ago, to see if there is seepage.
Jim Hall asked EPA to do the survey this time. Diane will pass the request on to Tom.
EPA Report [01:17:50]: Diane Russell, Community Involvement Coordinator
Groundwater investigation: Jacobs (contractor) finished sampling both on- and off-site, including MW-19 area, ANP wells, wells near slurry wall gap, MW-48, and wells near river. The work plan is accessible at the following link: https://semspub.epa.gov/work/05/962314.pdf
State of progress in Area 2, Phase 2 of the Velsicol Site: Construction continues, including new electrical circuit under North Street, liner installation complete, and 50% of air lines, water lines and heaters have been installed. Project is on schedule for startup in mid to late March 2021.
State of progress on OU-3 and OU-4 of the Velsicol Site: EPA awarded a new contract for Otie/Jacobs for the RI/FS and is on schedule to release RI for OU3 in early 2021, and discussions can begin on the next phase of the carbon amendment study.
Other site work: DNAPL/groundwater collection trench is operating under a new contract and continues without issue. No additional DNAPL recovery from the manholes. The City awarded the contract for the Well 12 installation and drilling is underway, with operation anticipated by fall 2021. EPA is working on a new contract for Remedial Design (RD) likely to be awarded in spring 2021.
Discussion
Gary followed up on request for list of property owners.
EGLE Report [01:30:00]: Erik Martinson, Project Manager
No major updates on railroad spur contamination site, as EGLE continues to be delayed by Mid-Michigan Railroad for access to property. Westin (consultants) will reach out again. Erik will also draft a letter requesting a formal response.
Erik shared information related to well locations in ANP, too, based upon his prior work with Westin, which includes cluster wells on North, Bankston, and Watson Streets, with another set on the corner of Mill and North Street. Each of those well clusters include shallow, intermediate, and deep wells, with shallow being best connected to the issues in ANP.
Old Business [01:33:40]
PBB Leadership Team Update – Ed, Jane, Brittany, Norm
Jane helped draft a letter to senators thanking them for their assistance and support with PBB records, but also draw attention to ongoing challenges related to participant and researcher access. MDHHS and MPHI have proposed a new solution wherein they would assign new identification numbers to each record rather than maintaining original PBB IDs, but they would destroy the key with linkages for both IDs preventing future matches and studies, including death and cancer data, for which Emory has funding to do. We believe senators have made some phone calls because the state health department is now indicating a willingness to revisit identification numbers and the cancer match. CAG and PBB Leadership Team members have reviewed state and federal public health codes—and cited both—in correspondences, emphasizing the importance of public health authority in these cases.
Latest MPHI loss of data again (previously, data on a lost flash drive): Data in their system was deleted from servers and they claim that those participants have withdrawn from the study when they have in fact not—Emory has printouts provided by MDHHS when data was complete, providing evidence for deletion. This is yet another difficulty in a long list.
Blood draws for clinical study must continue on time and have been made possible because of an advisory board member working with a phlebotomist, with help of St. Johns MMDHD. However, due to latest emergency orders, we received word that the draws this weekend have been postponed. There are a lot of people who have already finished the trial and many more beginning.
Discussion
Data on withdrawals over the life of the PBB Registry suggests that there weren’t many associated with data breaches, even though the loss of participant information is troubling. Since involvement with Emory, only 14 have withdrawn, compared to major withdrawals in 1970s due to lack of follow up by the state.
Emory has developed a form for family to add deceased relatives to study, even if previously withdrawn.
The epigenetic study continues, with small number of three generation families who have agreed to participate, but some having a hard time getting necessary family members to do so.
Decision on archival destination: The Executive Committee voted last month that CAG materials and records will henceforth be donated to the Clarke Historical Library at CMU. Many of the records are already there and this will grow and make collection accessible.
Transfer of additional records from EGLE for CMU, with records from 2012 to 2020 need added at some point too.
New Business [01:49:45]
Report on Historical Society of Michigan History presentation – Ed, Brittany: The HSM invited Ed to present on the history of the PBB mix-up and he invited Brittany to co-present. Ed focused on the lessons learned from the mix-up, providing insight into the St. Louis community’s experiences and CAG work, while Brittany talked about the Michigan PBB Oral History Project. There were approximately 120 people who signed into the presentation via Zoom, with a few people reaching out to both Ed and Brittany for additional information and to share insights.
Brittany will email the hosts to see if there is a recording that can be shared.
Vote on CAG Hall of Fame nominees (by email or Zoom meeting poll):
Bernie Bessert – founding member of CAG and farm family member.
Murray Borrello – founding member who teaches environmental sciences at Alma College and has been appointed to state commission. He remains very active in upstream cleanup efforts.
Norm Keon – founding member and state health department employee, epidemiologist for a number of county health departments, as well as very active in PBB Leadership Team and CAG.
George Kubin – mayor of St. Louis for many years and instrumental in bringing new water system to city, convincing DOJ and EPA through a lawsuit to support.
Ed Lorenz – retired political science and history professor at Alma College, as well as founding and active member of CAG and PBB Leadership Team.
Melissa Strait – chemistry professor at Alma College, founding member and secretary for several years.
Annual Christmas Potluck and Hall of Fame Award: Plaques will be made and then executive committee will have to determine how best to award.
Next meeting date: December 16, 2020
Meeting adjourned at 9:04 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Brittany Fremion, secretary