The Department of Natural Resources and Environment today announced that the one-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River upstream of the City of Plainwell to the Penn Central railroad crossing is again closed to the public. This area of the river was closed in May 2009 to allow construction equipment to perform removal of PCB-contaminated material in the river banks.

The DNRE will utilize buoys and signs to alert travelers to the restricted access to the affected segment of the Kalamazoo River as work progresses through the area. The closure starts near the northern road ending of 16th Street and Baseline Road and continues northwestward to the City of Plainwell. Access to the river downstream of D Avenue is impractical since there is no take out point before the closed reach.

Final construction activities are expected to be completed by December 2010, and the site restored with trees and shrubs along the river corridor on property owned by the DNRE. The river will reopen upon completion. Improvements to a recreational portage around the remnants of the Plainwell No. 2 dam will be completed in conjunction with this work.

This stretch of the river has been the site of remediation work to remove sediments contaminated with PCBs , or polychlorinated biphenyls, which are toxic organic pollutants. The old Plainwell Dam has been removed, and now the Kalamazoo River flows freely in its historical channel for the first time in more than 100 years.

View the Kalamazoo River graphic.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is committed to the conservation, protection, management, and accessible use and enjoyment of the state's environment, natural resources, and related economic interests for current and future generations. Learn more at www.michigan.gov/dnre.