Site History: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were released
into the environment from carbonless copy paper recycling operations at several
area paper mills at the Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River
Superfund Site during the late 1950s through the early 1970s.
Location: Counties of Allegan and Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Trustees:
Case status: NOAA and its co-trustee agencies are working
closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality, and responsible parties to coordinate cleanup and
restoration strategies for the site.
Overview: The site includes five disposal areas, five paper
mill properties, a three-mile reach of Portage Creek in the city of Kalamazoo,
and an approximately 80-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River from Morrow Dam to
Lake Michigan. PCBs have contaminated sediments, water resources, and biota in
and adjacent to Portage Creek immediately upstream of its confluence with the
Kalamazoo River. PCBs from the site have also contaminated approximately 80
miles of the Kalamazoo River, downstream to Lake Michigan. Cleanup efforts are
ongoing.
The site was included on the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National
Priority List in 1990. Resources at risk include fishery resources and
supporting habitat. A consumption advisory exists for all fish species in the
affected area. NOAA is working to ensure that remediation activities for the
river are protective of trust resources, and that appropriate restoration
projects are selected. NOAA has helped develop a long-term monitoring program
for the river, which will provide data to evaluate trends in PCB uptake and
will establish a baseline for future monitoring of the effectiveness of the
remedy.
