The Filthy Five: Michigan’s most notorious contamination sites

Out of Michigan’s 24,000 Contaminated Sites, These Are Among the Most Notorious

Once upon a time, Michigan scientifically ranked our thousands of contamination sites by the hazard they represented to public health and the environment. Released annually, the list generated extensive publicity and legislative attention, resulting in significant appropriations for the cleanup of the worst sites.

In 1995, the state eliminated the annual ranking, in large part because the head of the agency resented the publicity and pressure. But while there is no annual ranking and public report, some sites are especially notorious because of both their hazard and their history.

The legacy these corporate polluters have left behind is especially important to consider as the Michigan legislature is likely to consider a package of Polluter Accountability bills later this year. The legislation would hold corporations responsible for cleaning up their own messes – rather than Michigan taxpayers.

Gelman Sciences – Washtenaw County

Source: Detroit Free Press

The Gelman Site is an area of groundwater contamination in Washtenaw County that includes portions of the City of Ann Arbor, and Scio Township. The groundwater is contaminated with the industrial solvent 1,4-dioxane (dioxane). The contamination plume encompasses a total area approximately 1 mile wide and 4 miles long. From 1966 until 1986, Gelman Sciences, Inc. manufactured medical filters using dioxane in the manufacturing process. In 1985, dioxane was discovered in residential drinking water wells in the area. Almost four decades later, the liable party and the state continue to haggle, with additional involvement by the County Court, local government, and active community members.

Packaging Corporation of America – Filer City (near Manistee)

Source: epa.gov

In 1949, Packaging Corporation of America switched to a new cooking process at this pulp mill, which produced much more contaminated wastewater. Waste from the cooking process depleted oxygen in Manistee Lake and resulted in a massive fish kill. From 1951 to 1976, the plant pumped seven billion gallons of wastewater resulting from use of a black pulping liquor into eight unlined seepage lagoons on 105 acres of land, resulting in an extensive plume of groundwater contamination. The plume initially flows under 1.5 square miles of industrially zoned land east of Manistee Lake.

Despite state studies confirming a discharge of at least a portion of the groundwater plume to the lake, and a high level of aquatic toxicity in the venting groundwater, U.S. EPA officially found no current or potential unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. The company is no longer being required to do more than monitor the plume.

Upper Peninsula Stamp Sands – Hubbell (in Houghton area)

Photo: Michigan Tech Archives

Copper mining activities in the area from the 1890s until 1969 produced mill tailings that were deposited along the Torch Lake shoreline. About 200 million tons of copper mill tailings were dumped into the lake. Stamp sands, tailings, and slags were deposited in the vicinity of former copper smelters, stamp mills, leach plants, reclamation plants and power plants. Extensive cleanup has taken place, but much more remains to be done.

Ott/Story/Cordova – Muskegon County

The Ott/Story/Cordova Superfund site has extensive soil and groundwater contamination resulting from waste disposal and chemical manufacturing practices in the 1950s through the 1980s. A pumping system extracts the contaminated groundwater, which is then treated and discharged to local surface waters. Court rulings have essentially created an obligation for the state (meaning taxpayers) to fund groundwater treatment and operations maintenance essentially in perpetuity –to the tune of millions of dollars per year.

Wickes Corporation – Mancelona

In 1986 Wickes disclosed that toxic Trichloroethylene (TCE) had been used at the site by a previous (and by then bankrupt) owner, Mt. Clemens Metal Products. EPA conducted groundwater testing and discovered extensive TCE contamination in groundwater and drinking water. It is now known that 13 trillion gallons of groundwater are contaminated by the use of chemicals at the site (by comparison, Grand Traverse Bay contains approximately 9 trillion gallons). This contamination has spread six miles to the northwest, affecting private drinking water wells. The state decided, in order to conserve limited public remediation funds, to support the development of a local drinking water authority and connecting homes to municipal water, rather than treat the contaminated water. Because of the ever-spreading groundwater plume, this “solution” has cost taxpayers over $27 million.