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BASF - Northworks Wyandotte (Wyandotte, Wayne County)

BASF - Northworks Wyandotte (Wyandotte, Wayne County)

Content updated August 2026

The Wyandotte public water system has received much attention from the media and concerned citizens in recent years.
Find more information about the city's drinking water quality at Michigan.gov/WyandotteDrinkingWater

Contact information

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and three EGLE divisions have separate oversight responsibilities for the BASF Northworks Wyandotte facility. To help connect the public with the appropriate program area, the primary responsibilities and contact information are listed below.

  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

    Oversees the 1994 EPA Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action, including the comprehensive groundwater barrier wall interim measure designed to prevent flow to the Detroit River and intercept, collect, and treat site groundwater before disposal.

    Valerie Voisin
    Voisin.Valerie@epa.gov
    312-886-5877

  • EGLE Drinking Water & Environmental Health Division

    Oversees sampling activities, including PFAS sampling, at the Wyandotte municipal drinking water intake and entry point to the distribution system.

    Sally Castle
    CastleS1@Michigan.gov
    517-281-8936

  • EGLE Materials Management Division

    Oversees the 1986 State of Michigan Consent Decree for the existing groundwater capture system well fields. MMD also assists EPA with technical reviews related to the barrier wall remedy.

    Marc Messina
    MessinaM@Michigan.gov
    517-219-2394

  • EGLE Water Resources Division

    Oversees PFAS in discharges to the Detroit River from Outfall 001 under the January 13, 2025, Administrative Consent Order with BASF. WRD conducts ongoing monitoring and compliance oversight for the  National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit.

    Ryan McWhinnie
     McWhinnieR@Michigan.gov
    517-667-8394

Background

BASF Northworks Wyandotte (BASF NW) is a chemical manufacturing facility located at 1609 Biddle Avenue in Wyandotte, Michigan. PFAS compounds were detected in BASF NW discharges to the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) and to the Detroit River.

The facility is subject to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action and is an EPA Region 5 lead RCRA Corrective Action site. EGLE works closely with EPA on cleanup and is the lead state agency for PFAS issues.

In 2020, BASF NW and EGLE conducted a groundwater investigation and detected perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) in groundwater near the extraction well fields associated with the State of Michigan Consent Decree and EPA AOC.

BASF NW borders the Detroit River in the Downriver Area below Ecorse Creek. The existing extraction well system, installed under a State of Michigan Consent Decree between EGLE and BASF in the 1980s, has operated for more than 35 years and is being evaluated and optimized to improve groundwater capture. Extracted groundwater is treated and discharged to the POTW.

EPA and EGLE are coordinating with BASF on a comprehensive groundwater interim measure for the facility. The measure is intended to intercept groundwater that would otherwise leave the site, collect and treat the groundwater, and include shoreline perimeter barriers along the Detroit River as part of the groundwater remedy.  On May 19, 2026, BASF submitted its draft 100% Basis of Design for implementation of that interim measure and it was approved by the EPA on June 29, 2026. 

The EPA maintains its own website regarding this site, and it is located at: EPA RCRA ID: MID064197742.

Drinking water

The area is supplied by municipal water from the city of Wyandotte. There are no known residential drinking water wells in the area.

The Wyandotte drinking water intake is located downstream of BASF NW. In August 2019, PFOS and PFHxS were detected in a sample from the intake. Ten subsequent sampling events through June 2020 did not identify PFAS at detectable levels in raw or finished drinking water. Routine monitoring of the drinking water intake and/or finished water is ongoing, and PFAS was not detected during the 2025 and 2026 sampling events.

Current status and anticipated activities

EPA approved the 100% Basis of Design (BOD) for the comprehensive groundwater interim measure on June 29th, 2026. The 100% BOD is the final design document and builds on earlier 60% and 95% design submittals.

The comprehensive groundwater interim measure is intended to provide a site-wide groundwater collection and treatment system and shoreline perimeter barriers to reduce the movement of contaminated groundwater from the site to the Detroit River.

EGLE Materials Management Division (MMD) is overseeing continued evaluation and optimization of the existing State of Michigan Consent Decree groundwater extraction system, including collection of additional extraction-well flow, transducer, and monitoring-well gauging data to evaluate system performance and improve capture.

EGLE Water Resources Division (WRD) entered into an Administrative Consent Order with BASF on January 13, 2025, to address PFAS exceedances at Outfall 001. BASF submitted a Corrective Action Plan on April 22, 2026, to meet the PFOS compliance level of 11 ng/L. WRD is overseeing implementation under the ACO.

Historical timeline

  • 2026

    • On June 29, 2026, EPA approved the 100% Basis of Design, authorizing construction to begin in early 2027.
    • On May 19, 2026, BASF submitted the 100% Basis of Design for the comprehensive groundwater interim measure.
    • On April 22, 2026, BASF submitted a Corrective Action Plan to EGLE WRD to meet the PFOS compliance level of 11 ppt at Outfall 001. WRD is overseeing implementation under the ACO.
    • On February 25, 2026, EPA reviewed and commented on BASF’s 95% Basis of Design and directed BASF to submit the 100% Final Design by May 19, 2026.

  • 2025 and earlier

    2025

    In 2025, BASF submitted a 95% Basis of Design for the comprehensive groundwater interim measure, including a site-wide groundwater collection and treatment system and shoreline perimeter barriers.

    • On April 30, 2025, EPA and EGLE held a virtual public meeting to provide updates on the status of the BASF Northworks cleanup and the groundwater remedy.
    • On January 13, 2025, EGLE WRD entered into an Administrative Consent Order with BASF to address PFAS exceedances at Outfall 001.

    2024

    • On November 8, 2024, EPA responded to BASF’s 60% Basis of Design for the comprehensive groundwater interim measure and directed additional information to be incorporated into the 95% design submittal.

    2023

    • On July 7, 2023, the Targeted Interim Groundwater Measure began operating to remove groundwater from select wells and treat collected water for PFAS before off-site disposal under permit.

    2022

    • On October 25, 2022, BASF NW submitted a work plan for targeted, immediate action at the site perimeter to address PFAS contamination in the short term.
    • On September 6, 2022, BASF NW submitted the 30% design for the comprehensive groundwater remedy to EPA and EGLE. The long-term remedy is designed to act as a barrier between contaminated groundwater on site and the Detroit River.

    2021

    • Since June 2021, four perimeter groundwater sampling events have been conducted. PFAS was detected in 47 of the 64 samples.

    2020

    • In the summer of 2020, BASF NW and EGLE conducted additional interior groundwater PFAS investigation and surface water sampling and confirmed the presence of PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS in groundwater from three extraction well fields. The highest results were 8,070 ppt PFOS, 73 ppt PFOA, and 762 ppt PFHxS.
    • On May 7, 2020, BASF NW shared sampling results from the Source Identification Study with EGLE and provided a recommended path forward. PFOS was the primary PFAS compound detected from Outfall 001 discharging to the Detroit River.

    2019

    • On August 28, 2019, BASF NW responded to the violation notice with a PFAS Source Identification Study Plan for discharge from Outfall 001. Source investigation suggested that historical aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) use contaminated groundwater that infiltrates into the NPDES discharge.
    • On June 24, 2019, under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, EGLE issued a violation notice to BASF NW requiring additional investigation sampling and source identification.

    2018

    • On December 6, 2018, BASF NW collected samples from Outfalls 001, 002, and 003, which discharge to the Detroit River. Results ranged from 6.6 to 56 ppt PFOS at Outfall 001A. The other two outfalls were below water quality standards for PFOS and PFOA.
    • In October 2018, EGLE requested that BASF NW conduct PFAS monitoring from three outfalls to the Detroit River following detections of PFOS in discharge to the POTW.

  • Historical sampling results (no longer updated)

    This table reflects data received after August 3, 2020. Data prior to August 3, 2020, is reflected in the historical timeline below. This table was updated to include all seven PFAS criteria effective December 21, 2020.

    Type of Sample

    Date Sampled
    (or range)

    Number of Sample Results Received

    Number of Samples above Criteria

    Groundwater Monitoring Wells

    2021-2022

    89

    81

    Residential well and groundwater monitoring well results are compared to EGLE Part 201 criteria for the seven PFAS compounds listed below: PFOS (16 ppt), PFOA (8 ppt), PFNA (6 ppt), PFHxS (51 ppt), PFHxA (400,000 ppt), PFBS (420 ppt), and HFPO-DA (370 ppt).

    Sampling notes

    The historical table above does not include BASF sample results for non-contact cooling water or storm sewer sampling.