850 Ladd Road (Walled Lake, Oakland County)

Colleen McLean, McleanC1@Michigan.gov or 586-554-6489.

This Walled Lake Facility (Site) is located within a mixed industrial/commercial park at 850 Ladd Road. Ex-Cell-O conducted aerospace research and development on-site. The site was acquired by Textron in 1986, but Textron reports never operating the facility. Chlorinated compounds were detected in groundwater in 1992 and Textron installed a groundwater collection and treatment system in 1996. Groundwater has been captured, treated, and disposed of to the sewer since 1996 to prevent off-site migration and treat the chlorinated compounds on-site.

Textron sold the property in 1995 and in 2002 the Building E parcel was acquired by Martin Road Investments, LLC, and by 2005 it was occupied by Matrix Systems, Inc. In 2005 a warehouse addition was added on the western portion of the building. As part of that construction and upgrade of Building E, by either the owner or the operator, a modern fire suppression system using Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) containing PFAS compounds was installed. The fire suppression system is still present inside the boiler room on the north side of the building near monitoring wells MW-1A and MW-1B. This system was tested after installation and Matrix's consultant observed the fire suppression foam surrounding the building during their routine system maintenance in either 2005 or 2006. It appeared that the foam was swept/washed out of the building following testing onto the surrounding grassy areas and pavement. This is one known release from the system; others may also have occurred.

Groundwater flow is to the west-southwest, however, the on-site pump and treat system is pulling the groundwater in all directions towards the pumping wells and preventing contamination from leaving the site.

Content posted June 2022.

• Based on search of a one-mile radius around the site, Walled Lake identified up to 70 wells. EGLE is targeting the six closest wells to the site to be sampled, because the current pump-and-treat system for chlorinated solvents is pulling the groundwater back onto the site.

• EGLE will be conducting an ownership and liability determination for Building E in 2005 and 2006 when the AFFF releases occurred.