News Releases from Region 05

Soil cleanup to begin at Velsicol Superfund site in St. Louis, Michigan

For Immediate Release: No. 16-OPA065

CHICAGO (June 26, 2017) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will begin cleanup at the Velsicol Chemical Corp. Superfund site in St. Louis, Mich., later this summer. The site received $9.7 million in funding.

EPA officials plan to begin thermal treatment at the site. During this process, special equipment will heat the soil, capture contaminants and treat them on-site. This phase of work is expected to take 18 months. Additional environmental actions at the plant site will follow in the future.

Velsicol produced fire retardant polybrominated biphenyl, or PBB, and the pesticide DDT from 1936 until 1978 when the plant shut down. The chemicals polluted the groundwater, soil and Pine River that bordered the plant. In the 1980s, the factory was demolished, but elevated levels of benzene and 1,2 dichloroethane remain in the groundwater beneath the site.

To learn more about this site, visit: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/velsicol-chemical-michigan.

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