$13 million PCB cleanup effort funded by Georgia-Pacific

KALAMAZOO, MI — In a settlement filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court and announced by the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Georgia-Pacific Corporation has agreed to a new $13 million cleanup for the Kalamazoo River Superfund site in Allegan and Kalamazoo counties, according to the Associated Press.

Georgia-Pacific is to consolidate polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contaminated material, install a permanent landfill cap across 32 acres, install a groundwater-monitoring system, implement erosion-control measures and restore wetland and shoreline habitats, the story stated.

Sediments in and around the river from Portage Creek to Lake Michigan are loaded with PCBs, a chemical substance once used in the paper industry that can cause health problems for animals and people exposed to high concentrations of them, the story noted.

According to the story, a federal bankruptcy filing by LyondellBasell Industries, which owns Millennium Holdings LLC, left Georgia-Pacific as the lone financier of future cleanups on the river.

A similar $25 million cleanup of a 1.5-mile stretch of the river near Plainwell was completed in December, the story added.

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