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U.S. EPA-MDEQ update meeting on Texas Township, Mich., drum site cleanup, April 16, 6:30 p.m.

Release Date: 04/02/2009
Contact Information: (EPA) Mick Hans, 312-353-5050, hans.mick@epa.gov (EPA) Don de Blasio, 312-886-4360, deblasio.don@epa.gov (MDEQ) Bob McCann, 517-241-7397

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 09-OPA046


CHICAGO (April 2, 2009) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announce a public meeting to update residents on a hazardous drums cleanup at a private property in Texas Township, Mich., near Kalamazoo. The meeting will be Thursday, April 16, 6:30 p.m., at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Main Building, Room 8570, 6767 West O Ave.

In February, EPA wrapped up a $1.3 million Superfund cleanup of about 500 drums found in a pole-barn at the site. Some of the drums were damaged in an August 2008 fire. Each of the drums held numerous smaller containers filled with chemicals typically found in commercial, medical, academic and research laboratories. Over the course of the project, EPA's cleanup contractors opened and evaluated 40,000 to 50,000 individual containers holding hundreds of different chemicals. Among the materials disposed of properly: 36,000 pounds of mercury-contaminated waste, 20,500 pounds of chromium and arsenic waste, and about 8,025 pounds of formalin, a type of formaldehyde. Also, 25 of the drums contained radioactive materials, which were sent to a disposal facility licensed to handle radioactive waste.

With the drummed waste now removed from the site, MDEQ has begun investigating whether there are any potential impacts on sub-surface soil and ground water. MDEQ's preliminary results will be presented at the meeting.

A public meeting attended by about 150 people was held in October.

Residents who need special accommodations to attend the meeting, please contact EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Don de Blasio, 800-621-8431, Ext 64630, or deblasio.don@epa.gov. See a fact sheet and more information about the Texas Township drum site: https://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/texas/.