Hemphill Road Industrial Land - RACER (Burton, Genesee County)

Brian Kuberski, KuberskiB@Michigan.gov or 517-243-7574.

Hemphill Road Industrial Land is located at the southeast corner of the South Saginaw Street and Hemphill Road intersection in Genesee County, Burton. The Site is 7.8-acres and includes approximately 2.6 acres of waste fill, which is the western portion of the former Hemphill Landfill. The Site is presently unused, with portions covered with asphalt or gravel. A section is currently being leased as a construction laydown area for Consumers Energy. The Site is bounded to the north by Hemphill Road; to the west by an active service station, medical center, and South Saginaw Street; to the east by an open field (privately owned) which was previously the primary part of the former municipal Hemphill Landfill; and to the south by Storage One (commercial property). Prior to 1941 the Site was used for agricultural purposes. As part of the former municipal Hemphill Landfill, a portion of the Site was filled with industrial and municipal wastes from sometime after 1941 to approximately 1958. Filling activities continued east of the Site until 1978. The Site was developed for commercial use beginning in 1955 with the construction of a building occupied by Kroger on the northern portion. A second building occupied by Taystee Bread was formerly located in the central portion of the Site, and a discount department store was added in the southern part of the Site in 1959.The former General Motors Corporation (GMC) purchased the property in 1978. Prior to GMC purchasing the property it was owned by the City of Burton. Remediation & Liability Management Company, Inc. (REALM), a wholly owned subsidiary of GMC, managed the Site from 2001 until 2009, when GMC changed its name to Motors Liquidation Company (MLC) and continued management of the property as part of the GMC bankruptcy process. The property was transferred to the current owner, RACER Properties LLC, (an entity wholly owned by RACER Trust), on March 31, 2011.

Based on the historic use of the site, EGLE requested that RACER conduct a preliminary screening for PFAS by sampling a subset of existing monitor wells at the site.

Shallow groundwater flow is to the east toward Schram Drain. Deeper groundwater flow is generally to the north. At this time it is not known if any pathways are complete (e.g. impacting nearby drinking water wells).

Content posted September 2020.

The Site is not located in a wellhead protection area and there are no wellhead protection areas within approximately 3,000 feet of the Site. The nearest private wells are located approximately 815 to 1,250 feet to the east, across Schram drain. Although risks to drinking water appear to be low, limited data is available at this time. EGLE is working with Genesee County Health Department to do a more thorough evaluation of potable wells in the area. Additional investigation is currently being considered in order to better understand the nature of the impact at the site.

Discussions with local officials, including the City, will continue as to how to proceed.