Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy announced that a new phase of the cleanup will soon begin at the Velsicol Chemical Corp. Superfund site, in St. Louis, Michigan. Later this month, the agencies will start preparing to excavate approximately 100,000 tons of contaminated soil from the southern portion of the former Velsicol Chemical property.
Excavation will continue this year while weather permits and will resume in the spring. Workers will be onsite from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. All trucks will enter and leave the site through the gate located off State Route M-46 (Washington Ave). EPA anticipates that the cleanup will be done by fall 2023, and restoration work will be completed in 2024. All contaminated soil will be transported offsite for proper disposal.
The Velsicol plant operated from 1936 through 1977 and manufactured a wide variety of chemicals. Site spills and chemical discharges into the Pine River affected sediment, surface soils and groundwater.
For more information on the Velsicol Chemical Corp. site, please visit EPA’s website.