October 28, 2004

The Departments of Environmental Quality and Attorney General today announce that a judicial settlement has been reached with Ford Motor Company and the Kingsford Products Company to resolve long-term environmental contamination in the Kingsford-Breitung Township area in Dickinson County.

“This agreement ensures a comprehensive response to contamination caused by historic operations of both Ford Motor Company and a predecessor of the Kingsford Products Company,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. “I am pleased to see both companies make this extensive commitment to address these problems.”

"This settlement ensures that the companies who are legally responsible, not the taxpayers of Michigan, will take all the remaining steps necessary to clean up the serious pollution at this site,” Attorney General Mike Cox said. We appreciate the fact that Ford Motor Company and Kingsford Products Company have formally committed to resolving this longstanding problem."

"We are pleased to have reached a cooperative agreement with the Department of Environmental Quality that now formalizes a comprehensive framework for our ongoing long-term operation and monitoring of the companies' environmental response programs within the area. The agreement enables Ford and Kingsford Products to continue to address issues remaining from historic operations with up to date knowledge and techniques to complete a thorough remediation," said Andrew Hobbs, Director of Ford's Environmental Quality Office. "The combined resources of both companies applied to this issue demonstrates our commitment to working with the community and the state to resolving environmental issues in the area."

The settlement builds on the work the companies have already undertaken, calling for them to provide methane monitoring, vapor control systems, and annual inspections for structures within the area. The companies will also cap former waste disposal areas, extract and treat contaminated groundwater, develop and implement a comprehensive remedial action plan, and reimburse the state for any future response activity costs. To date, Ford and Kingsford Products have reimbursed the state $1.4 million in past response activity costs incurred at this facility.

Both companies disposed of wood chemical distillation waste into pits in the area from the 1920s through 1961. Methane from decomposing waste and other industrial chemicals from the pits have entered the soils, groundwater, and the Menominee River, creating potential health, safety, and environmental concerns. Ford opened a car and glider parts manufacturing facility in Kingsford in the 1920s, and subsequently operated a wood chemical distillation plant to make use of wood scraps from the manufacturing facility. The Kingsford Products Company’s predecessor, Kingsford Chemical Company, subsequently purchased the Ford chemical plant, and operated it from 1951 to 1961.

The state and the companies will continue to coordinate with local officials and the community, keeping them informed and involved. The Consent Judgment and other information regarding the clean up effort can be accessed at this information repository: Dickinson County Library, 401 Iron Mountain Street, Iron Mountain, Michigan, 49801; phone: 906-774-1218.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

Revised October 28, 2004 by Kathy Curtis