Skip to main content
Mt. Pleasant City Landfill (Mt. Pleasant, Isabella County)

Mt. Pleasant City Landfill (Mt. Pleasant, Isabella County)

Disclaimer: Web content may not be routinely updated on this page.

Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.

EGLE site lead

Larry Engelhart, EngelhartL@Michigan.gov or (989) 891-6946.

Waste Disposal Questions

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

Background

The old Mt. Pleasant city dump/landfill is located at 1301 North Franklin Street. The property is owned by the city of Mt. Pleasant and within the boundaries of the Saginaw Chippewa Reservation. The site became a suspected source of PFAS after the city of Mt. Pleasant sampled water from clay tiles that drain near the dump and empty into the Chippewa River. (The tile/drain sampling results also revealed the drains were illicit discharges, which the city has since fixed). To confirm the dump as a source, two monitoring wells were installed at the edge of the landfill and sampled. Both groundwater well results were over PFAS criteria.

The Chippewa River is located adjacent to the facility. While it is believed that groundwater flows toward the Chippewa River, additional monitoring wells will be installed in the near future to verify that.

Content posted July 2021.

Mt Pleasant City Landfill Map

Site map

See an aerial view of the location of the site.

Expand the map

Drinking water

Mannik Smith Group coordinated with the Central Michigan District Health Department (CMDHD) for information regarding drinking water wells nearby. Further discussions will occur with Mt. Pleasant Department of Public Works and their Consultant.

Anticipated activities

EGLE will review the report from Mannik Smith Group when anticipated to be received in July 2021.

Historical Timeline

    • On June 28, 2019, the city of Mt. Pleasants consultant, AKT Peerless Environmental Services (AKT) collected two samples from on-site monitoring wells.
    • On July 16, 2019, AKT collected two samples from the clay tiles that discharge into the Chippewa River.
    • On August 6, 2019, EGLE received the results from the June 2019 sampling event.  The highest monitoring well PFOS+PFOA result was 250 ppt.
    • On August 6, 2019, EGLE received the results from the samples collected from the clay tiles.  The highest PFOS+ PFOA result was 124 ppt.
    • On September 17, 2019, EGLE received an updated summary report from AKT which included recommendations to install additional monitoring wells.
    • On November 26, 2019, additional monitoring wells as proposed in the updated summary report from AKT were installed within the footprint of the landfill in order to characterize the leachate.
    • On February 5, 2020, additional monitoring wells proposed in the updated summary report from AKT were installed along the perimeter of the landfill.  It was discovered, the clay tiles that had been fixed previously, appear to be leaking due to erosion of the Chippewa River.  Repairs, including grouting and recapping are underway.  
    • On February 17, 2020 samples were collected from 5 monitoring wells.  EGLE received the results on March 23, 2020.  The sampling chart was updated to reflect the results.
    • On February 24, 2020, an on-site meeting occurred to discuss preparing a work plan to install monitoring wells along the Chippewa River.  
    • On April 20, 2020, AKT collected groundwater samples from 4 newly installed monitoring wells.
      • Historical Sampling Chart: data is reflective of criteria prior to 8/3/2020:
        PFOS + PFOA Only
        This chart reflects data received prior to 8/3/2020.

        Type of Sample

        Date Sampled

        # of Samples

        # of Results Received

        # of Non-detects

        # Between Non-detect and standard*

        #>Standard

        Groundwater

        		 Jun 28, 2019 - August 2020 9 9 0 0 9

        Cumulative

        		 9 9 0 0 9

        *Groundwater results are compared to EGLE Part 201 Criteria of 70 ppt PFOS+PFOA.

    • ?On August 17, 2020, EGLE received the sample results collected in April 2020.  The highest sample result was 38 ppt for PFOS and 140 ppt for PFOA collected from MW-16-20.

    • On September 9, 2020 the city of Mt. Pleasant is expected to receive bids for installing additional monitoring wells proposed to be located adjacent to the Chippewa River. 
    • On October 1, 2020, the city of Mt. Pleasant informed EGLE that Mannik Smith Group was awarded the contract to install additional monitoring wells.   
    • On December 15, 2020, the City of Mt. Pleasant informed EGLE that Mannik Smith Group installed 9 monitoring wells.  
    • EGLE received a December 22, 2020, Report on Groundwater Testing Project 3, by Mannik Smith Group.  
    • On February 22, 2021, EGLE had a virtual meeting with the City of Mt. Pleasant DPW and Mannik Smith Group to discuss the December 22, 2020, report data; future investigations and schedules were also discussed.     
    • On April 16, 2021, EGLE received a signed contract with the City of Mt. Pleasant and Mannik Smith Group for additional investigations, including exploratory borings to evaluate the size of the landfill, survey monitoring well elevations, and collect groundwater samples.
    • On July 2, 2021, EGLE received an email indicating a preliminary report will be submitted to the City of Mt. Pleasant Department of Public Works and will be finalized soon after receipt.

    Sampling Results Summary

    Type of Sample

    Date Sampled (or range)

    Number of Sample
    Results Received

    Number of Samples above
    Criteria*

    Groundwater Monitoring Wells

    		 April 20, 2020 - Present 13 7

    *Residential well and groundwater monitoring well results are compared to EGLE Part 201 criteria for 7 PFAS compounds:  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

    • On August 3, 2020, new Part 201 Criteria went into effect.  Historical sampling data compared to Part 201 Criteria >70 is captured in the historical timeline below.
    • EGLE conducted recent fish tissue sampling in the Chippewa River adjacent to this site both upstream and downstream.  Results did not indicate a concern with regards to PFAS.