Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site, Allied Paper Landfill (OU1) (Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County)

Daniel Peabody, PeabodyD@Michigan.gov or (517) 285-3924.

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

This site is approximately 89 acres in size and located at 268 East Alcott in the city of Kalamazoo. An estimated 1.6 million cubic yards of contaminated waste is present at the site. The site is a U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lead. A Record of Decision--which is a document that explains the remediation for cleanup at a Superfund site--was signed by EPA in September 2016. The selected remedy includes excavation of contaminated materials and consolidating and capping those materials at the site. Investigation and remedial activities are completed by a trust (Trust) following bankruptcy of Lyondell Basell, and remedial design is currently underway. A “Do Not Eat” fish advisory is currently in effect for Portage Creek due to the presence of PCBs in fish.

In May and June 2018, the city of Kalamazoo collected three effluent samples from the groundwater recovery and extraction system as required by the Industrial Pretreatment Program. PFAS in the effluent was 38 ppt PFOS, which exceeds water quality standards. A memo provided by EPA to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) suggested that PFAS was used on the site. EPA requested that additional sampling be done on the site. Additional information is available on the U.S EPA Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site webpage.

Shallow groundwater discharges radially toward Portage Creek, which borders the site to the east. A strong upward gradient is present at the site, potentially limiting the flow of contaminants into the deeper regional aquifer. Type 1 water wells operated by the city of Kalamazoo are located approximately 0.7-miles north of the landfill. The nearest private drinking water wells are located approximately 2.4-miles northwest of the landfill.

Content posted September 2020.

The landfill is located in Kalamazoo’s well head protection area. The nearest drinking water wells in the downgradient and cross gradient direction are approximately 1-mile away. No residential well sampling is being proposed at this time.

The Trust, on-behalf of EPA, is not planning to complete any additional sampling prior to clean-up actions being initiated at the site. Clean-up actions may be initiated in 2021 or 2022. Groundwater monitoring at the site would resume once clean-up actions are complete. EGLE received and provided comments on the pre-final remedial design report. The proposed remedy includes consolidation and capping of materials on-site and long-term monitoring. There will continue to be routine meetings between the City of Kalamazoo, the Trust, EGLE, and EPA to discuss the ongoing remedial design.