News Releases from Region 05

EPA Begins PCB cleanup at Crown Vantage Side Channel in Kalamazoo

For Immediate Release No. 20-OPA-022

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Oct. 7, 2020)  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that work will begin this week to remove PCB-contaminated sediment from the Crown Vantage Side Channel, a backwater between the Kalamazoo River and the Crown Vantage Landfill, the site of a former paper mill. EPA expects the cleanup to be completed in December, but further restoration may be needed in the Spring.

The potentially responsible parties, Georgia Pacific LLC and the International Paper Co., will conduct the cleanup under EPA’s supervision. This involves upgrading access roads near the landfill, staging areas for equipment and drying the sediment before transporting it off-site for disposal. The work is part of the larger cleanup of a section of the Kalamazoo River known as Area 1.

Work from dawn to dusk on Mondays through Saturdays will generate more traffic than usual in the area. Trucks will use the entrance off G Avenue. Workers using the Remus Street entrance have been instructed to drive with caution through the residential area. 

For general information: Diane Russell, 989-395-3493, russell.diane@epa.gov

For more information: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0502325

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