EPA Announces New Cleanup Effort At Former Mich. Chemical Plant

The Environmental Protection Agency will begin a nearly $10 million cleanup effort at one of the nation's largest superfund sites in coming weeks.

The agency on Monday said that the thermal treatment of soil at the former Velsicol Chemical Corp. plant in St. Louis, Mich., would take about 18 months. During that process, cleanup workers will use special equipment to heat the soil and capture and treat contaminants on-site.

The Velsicol plant produced chemicals — including the fire retardant PBB and the pesticide DDT — for more than four decades before shutting down in 1978.

Those materials and others contaminated the nearby soil and groundwater, including the neighboring Pine River, with hundreds of chemicals in subsequent decades. The EPA said that the groundwater, in particular, contains elevated levels of benzene and 1,2 dichloroethane.

More than $100 million was spent to clean the river over the past two decades, and additional funding will be needed in coming years.

The Velsicol plant was famously the site of a mix-up of Firemaster flame retardant and cattle feed supplement Nutrimaster more than four decades ago. The incident tainted much of Michigan's meat and dairy supply with PBB, an endocrine-disrupting chemical linked to reproductive issues and thyroid problems.

Researchers from Emory University found last year that six in 10 people tested in the state had traces of PBB in their blood at levels above the national average.