Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.
Kevin Wojciechowski, WojciechowskiK@Michigan.gov or 586-623-2948
Billerud Escanaba Area of Interest, located at 7100 County Road 426, has operated as a paper making facility since circa 1911. Over the history, the site has been owned by several different paper companies with the latest being Billerud Americas Corporation. In October of 2023, EGLE had their contractor (AECOM) collect groundwater samples from seven monitoring wells to evaluate for PFAS, iron, manganese, arsenic, ammonium, and nitrate. Two monitoring wells located on the southeastern portion of the property had detections of PFOA above criteria of 8 ppt. Additional PFAS compounds were detected in the groundwater but were below criteria. Based on record review of historical and current operations no PFAS is known to be used at this site, and it is unclear what the source of the PFAS is in the groundwater. The highest groundwater PFAS results were located near the southern boundary of the plant property, with the monitoring wells in the center of the plant property having only minor detections of PFAS compounds.
Billerud completed an additional groundwater and onsite drinking water investigation in May 2024. The onsite drinking water wells were non-detect for PFAS. One groundwater monitoring well had a PFOA detection of 19 ppt (compared to 8 ppt).
The Billerud paper plant is on a large tract of land. Groundwater flows in different directions based on the location on the property. In the area where groundwater exceeds the PFOA criteria the groundwater flows in a southeasterly direction.
Content added November 2024
Aerial view of Billerud Escanaba paper mill site with well locations and sample results.
Aerial view of Billerud Escanaba paper mill site with groundwater PFAS results.
Down-gradient of where PFOA was detected in groundwater, is a small residential subdivision and a Department of Natural Resources office and garage that are serviced by drinking water wells.
As of October 2024, 50 drinking water wells were sampled and were either non-detect for PFAS or the detections were below criteria. No further drinking water sampling is planned.
EGLE will continue to work with Billerud to locate the possible source of the PFAS and delineate the PFOA groundwater plume.
