Moroun Family Seeks EPA Superfund Status for Abandoned McLouth Steel Site on Detroit River

McClouth Steel, Trenton, 1950s-Reddit

McLouth Steel expanded its Detroit operations to a 188 acre site in Trenton, Michigan, south of Detroit on the Detroit River, in 1948. McLouth became one of the nation’s largest steel producers.

In 1996, the plant was sold. The Trenton facility remained idle after several failed attempts to restart it. The site has been and continues to be one of the most polluted on the Detroit River.


Wayne County foreclosed on the property in April 2017 for unpaid taxes. Past due city and county taxes exceeding $4 million are expected to be the Morouns’ purchase price.

A Michigan Department Environmental Quality (MDEQ) report said “contaminated soils at the site consist of slag fill material containing metals, arsenic, lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, selenium and zinc, as well as documented spills with contaminated soils containing PCBs.”

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2017/05/18/mclouth-steel/101815090/

A spokesman for the Morouns’ real estate development company, Crown Enterprises, is quoted in Crain’s as saying, "This is going to be a Superfund site that's not going to sit and languish." (Easy for him to say. The property has been sitting, languishing and polluting for the better part of 70 years.)

It’s reported that Crown Enterprises and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have a tentative agreement to add the old McLouth property to the National Priorities (Superfund) List. The Wayne County Land Bank has extended the time for negotiations three times.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20180531/news/662351/epa-morouns-reach-tentative-deal-to-clean-up-mclouth-steel-plant-site

New PCB Cleanup Proposed for St. Clair Shores Superfund Site

St. Clair Shores - marinas.com

Recently, US EPA announced plans to remove soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) from several locations encompassing approximately 30 (mostly residential) lots in the Ten Mile Drain Superfund area of St. Clair Shores, MI. The agency encourages public comment on the proposal. Excerpts:

"The site is northeast of Detroit on the western shores of Lake St. Clair in Macomb County, Mich. The site covers several city blocks where PCBs have been found inside the Ten-Mile Drain system as well as near-surface soil and sediment (mud) in the Lange and Revere Street canals connected to Lake St. Clair. The site was placed on the National Priorities List in 2010 making it eligible for cleanup funds under EPA’s Superfund program."

"Investigators believe PCB-contaminated oil originated from a historical release at the commercial property located at the corner of Lakeland Street and Harper Avenue in Investigation Area 1. It appears the PCB-tainted oil was dumped there or used for dust control on a former dirt parking lot. There is not an ongoing release of PCBs from the commercial property to the Ten Mile Drain system."

"Several investigations and cleanup actions have taken place since PCBs were first discovered at the site in 2001."

https://semspub.epa.gov/work/05/940536.pdf

PR for Saginaw Area Dioxin Clean-Up

The following shows how well EPA (Region 5) handles public relations concerning a Superfund dioxin clean-up in the Saginaw-Midland, Michigan area:

The next meeting of the Saginaw-Tittabawassee Rivers Contamination Community Advisory Group will be from 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Monday, July 20 at the Tittabawassee Township Memorial Park Building, 150 Park Street, Freeland. An optional new member orientation will be held at 5:00 p.m. for new or interested CAG members.

The CAG meets to discuss issues related to the Superfund site and its cleanup. These meetings are open to the public and are mostly held on the third Monday of every other month. The group was established to represent the interests of the community and to share information and make recommendations to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the cleanup of the rivers and bay. Learn more at www.saginawcag.org.

If you have questions please contact Diane Russell, at 989-401-5507 or russell.diane@epa.gov.

You may also call Region 5 toll-free at 800-621-8431, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., weekdays. More information is at www.epa.gov/region5/cleanup/dowchemical

Agenda

• 5:00 PM New Member Orientation (optional)
• All are welcome to attend, we did not conduct one last year
• 6:00 PM Introductions

Agenda Review

• Check in with public
• 6:10 PM CAG Updates
• 2015 New Member Introductions
• EPA Community conference August 2015
• Possible additional Fall meeting
• Other comments
• 6:30 PM Project updates
• 7:00 PM Institutional Controls Overview and Q&A
• 8:15 PM Public questions and comments
• 8:30 PM Adjourn

GLWA, Clinton River Watershed, EPA Superfund, Ten-Mile Drain

Much of the northern portion of the new Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) is within Oakland and Macomb counties and the Clinton River watershed.  The entire watershed, 760 square miles, is designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an Area of Concern (AOC).

“The U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (Annex 2 of the 1987 Protocol) defines AOCs as ‘geographic areas that fail to meet the general or specific objectives of the agreement where such failure has caused or is likely to cause impairment of beneficial use of the area's ability to support aquatic life.’ More simply put, an AOC is a location that has experienced environmental degradation.”

The most serious degradation is the result of toxic waste at sites in the watershed that EPA has included on its Superfund National Priorities List.  “Superfund is the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA statute, CERCLA overview)."

“The National Priorities List is a published list of hazardous waste sites in the country that are eligible for extensive, long-term clean-up actions under the Superfund program.”

One of the Superfund sites in the Clinton River watershed is the Ten-Mile Drain.

“The Ten-Mile Drain Site is located near the intersection of Bon Brae Street and Harper Avenue in St. Clair Shores, Macomb County, Michigan. It includes a portion of the Ten Mile drain storm sewer system, which consists of the concrete sewer pipes and soil surrounding the pipes in [a] utility corridor approximately 15 feet underground. The site encompasses a several block area where polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been documented to be present in significant quantities in the underground utility. The PCBs are migrating into the storm sewer which empties into two canals, known as the Lange and Revere Street canals, connected to Lake St Clair.”

“Following the discovery of PCBs at the site, EPA conducted removal actions to address the contamination that had been identified. EPA dredged the canals and cleaned out the underground storm sewer drain system, but the contamination returned. As a result, in September 2010, EPA's work at the Ten-Mile Drain site shifted from the removal portion of EPA's Superfund program to the remedial portion, which focuses on long-term cleanup projects.”

The work is ongoing.