Kavco Landfill (Plainwell, Barry County)

Lynn Gosson, GossonL1@Michigan.gov or 989-225-0161

Please note that this landfill is CLOSED and does not accept waste. 

The Kavco Landfill is an 80-acre parcel located on West Day Road in Plainwell. The landfill operated as a licensed solid waste disposal facility from the 1960s to 1984. In December 1984, KAV Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the Kavco Landfill property subsequently tax reverted to the State. In the mid-1980s, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) investigated the site and determined that the landfill was leaching contaminants to groundwater and was the source of residential well contamination. In addition, the investigation determined that the landfill was a source of explosive levels of methane gas found in the immediate proximity of the homes situated adjacent to the landfill.

Between 1987 and 2000, EGLE constructed a permanent water supply replacement for the subdivision and homes adjacent to the landfill consisting of new community water supply wells, a water tower, and connections for over 100 hundred residences. EGLE also installed a fence around the landfill, improved the existing landfill cap to prevent water infiltration and abate the loading of contaminants into the groundwater, and installed a landfill methane gas extraction system to eliminate the migration of methane gas generated by the landfill.

EGLE continues to manage the landfill and recently discovered PFAS in the existing groundwater monitoring well network above groundwater cleanup criteria during the initial PFAS investigation in May 2021.

Groundwater flow is to the west/northwest in the direction of Lake Doster, which is roughly 3/4 miles to the west.

Municipal water supply is available in the Lake Doster subdivision and properties west of the site. Samples from the Lake Doster municipal water supply wells were analyzed for PFAS in 2018 and 2021, results were below criteria and will continue to be sampled quarterly overseen by Gun Plain Township. Gun Plain Township has communicated results to municipal supply users.

DHHS, BECHD, and ACHD will provide residents with their drinking water results. EGLE will evaluate results of surface water investigation when received. EGLE will attempt to gain access to private property to expand its groundwater investigation south of the landfill.