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Reuse Plans
Plainwell, Michigan
Existing view of Plainwell Paper Mill property.
Conceptual reuse of the Plainwell Paper Mill property (PDF) (1 pg, 233K, About PDF): The civic square would serve as an all-season gathering area that would link together the property's river park, restored mill buildings, and the property's mixed civic, commercial, and residential land uses.
Reuse plans developed for sites in Region 5 have identified opportunities for a wide range of different land uses, from ecological areas, wildlife habitat, and recreational facilities to civic and commercial land uses. Some reuse plans focus on smaller sites in urban areas, while other plans focus on larger sites in small towns and suburban and rural areas. Each site and community is unique.
Reuse plans for two sites – the Calumet Container site and the
Plainwell Paper Mill – are highlighted below as illustrative examples
of the types of plans that have been developed to date for Superfund sites
across Region 5. The reports cover both removal and remedial sites in Region
5.
Calumet Container
The Calumet Container site is a removal site located within a mixed-use industrial and residential area in Hammond, Indiana. Drum and pail reconditioning operations caused soil contamination throughout the 11-acre site. Since 1982, EPA and Indiana’s Department of Environmental Management have worked to address on-site contamination through a series of removal actions. The reuse plan for the site illustrates its planned restoration as a native habitat area and recreational resource for the local community.
Plainwell Paper
The Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site is located in Kalamazoo and Allegan Counties, Michigan. The site includes portions of the Kalamazoo River and its adjacent floodplains and wetlands as well as three miles of Portage Creek. Five paper residual disposal areas and six paper mill properties, including the 35-acre Plainwell Paper Mill property, are also included as part of the site.
The reuse plan for the Plainwell Paper Mill property was developed as part of a six-month, community-based reuse planning process managed by a 30-member Mill Committee. The process included a detailed analysis of the site's characteristics and contamination as well as local land use and market conditions in the City of Plainwell and surrounding Allegan County. The reuse plan provides an overview of the community’s planning process and the plan’s visual framework highlights potential opportunities to locate mixed commercial, residential, recreational, and civic land uses at the site.