EPA announces cleanup will begin at the Velsicol Chemical Corporation in Michigan as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda
Publilshed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
CHICAGO (February 27, 2024) — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a third and final wave of more than $1 billion for cleanup projects at more than 100 Superfund sites across the country as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This funding is made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will launch new cleanup projects at 25 Superfund sites, including the Velsicol Chemical Corporation in St. Louis, Michigan.
“After three rounds of investments, EPA is delivering on President Biden’s full promise to invest in cleaning up America’s most contaminated Superfund sites,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “This final round of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has made it possible for EPA to initiate clean ups at every single Superfund site where construction work is ready to begin. This is an incredible milestone in our efforts to clean up and protect communities, deliver local jobs, enhance economic activity, and improve people’s lives for years to come.”
“Getting legacy contamination out of communities is at the core of EPA’s mission,” said Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. “Thanks to the President’s Investing in America agenda, EPA has the resources to clean up these sites much faster than we otherwise could.”
“Decades later, we are still fighting to reverse the immense environmental and public health damage that came from the PBB disaster of 1973, as well as the use of other harmful contaminants like DTT,” said U.S. Senator Gary Peters. “That’s why I’m thrilled to announce this investment that I fought to secure in the bipartisan infrastructure law, which will provide critical support for cleanup efforts at the Velsicol Chemical Superfund site in St. Louis and long-overdue relief to the local community.”
“Michigan is thankful to the U.S. EPA for this critical federal investment to help St. Louis and Michigan communities remove decades-old legacy contaminants from the Velsicol Chemical Corporation,” said Michigan Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Director Phil Roos. “This investment will support important ongoing activities to protect public health and the environment and ecosystem along the Pine River.”
Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, cleanup will begin at Velsicol Chemical Corporation Superfund site. to remediate an area located at the St. Louis hydroelectric dam to 1.5 miles downstream within the Pine River. Cleanup includes excavation, off-site disposal, and restoration of streambanks and four floodplains with DDT contamination. The volume is estimated to be over 20,000 cubic yards.
In addition to the new cleanup announced, today’s investment supports continued cleanup work at the Tar Lake Superfund site, Charlevoix Municipal Well Superfund site, and the DSC McLouth Steel Gibraltar Plant Superfund site in Michigan.
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The Tar Lake Superfund site is an approximate 234-acres near Mancelona, Michigan, that was formerly occupied by Antrim Iron Works that manufactured iron using the hardwood charcoal method from about 1882 to 1945. BIL funding will be used to engage the United States Army Corps of Engineers to excavate and dispose approximately 215,000 tons of contaminated soil and improve the groundwater remediation system with a new energy efficient air compressor and 28 new wells.
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The Charlevoix Municipal Well Superfund site includes multiple contaminant sources in the central portion of the city of Charlevoix. BIL funding will be used to install mitigation systems, demolish buildings and excavation and dispose soils off-site.
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The DSC McLouth Steel Gibraltar Plant Superfund site operated as a steel finishing operation from the 1950s until 1996 about 25-miles south of Detroit. The funding will be used to monitor, pump, and dispose of containments from ponds associated with Landfills A & B to prevent the overflow of hazardous waste into the surrounding drainage system that leads to surface waters. The hazardous liquid is mixed with stormwater in a treatment pond to reduce the pH to non-hazardous levels before being sent to an EPA-approved off-site disposal facility. An estimated 1.5 million gallons of liquid/stormwater mixture will be pumped, transported, and disposed of off-site during 2024.
Today’s investment is the final wave of funding from the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. So far, EPA has deployed more than $2 billion for cleanup activities at more than 150 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Thanks to President Biden’s commitment to addressing legacy pollution and improving public health, EPA has been able to provide as much funding for cleanup work in the past two years as it did in the previous five years while delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
EPA is committed to continuing to carry out this work advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process. More than one in four Black and Hispanic Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site. These investments are restoring the health and economic vitality of communities that have been exposed to pervasive legacy pollution. Thus far, nearly 80% of the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has gone to sites in communities with potential environmental justice concerns. Out of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, more than 75% are in communities with potential environmental justice concerns based on data from EJSCREEN.
The historic investment made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law strengthens every part of the Superfund program, making a dramatic difference in EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment. In addition to funding cleanup construction work, the investment is enabling EPA to increase funding for and accelerate essential work needed to prepare sites for construction and to ensure communities are meaningfully involved in the cleanup process. In 2023, EPA continued to fund Superfund pre-construction activities such as remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial designs, and community involvement at double pre-Bipartisan Infrastructure Law levels.
In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERLCA), known as Superfund. The law gave EPA the authority and funds to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up the most contaminated sites across the country. When no viable responsible party is found or cannot afford the cleanup, EPA steps in to address risks to human health and the environment using funds appropriated by Congress, like the funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
To see a list of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-sites-new-construction-projects-receive-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-funding
To see highlights from the first two years of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding at Superfund sites, visit EPA’s Cleaning Up Superfund Sites: Highlights of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding website.
For more information about EPA’s Superfund program, visit EPA’s Superfund website.
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Read the full article at: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-cleanup-will-begin-velsicol-chemical-corporation-michigan-part-president
