Kalamazoo Mayor: EPA's Plan for Superfund Landfill Is 'Unacceptable'

"KALAMAZOO, MI -- Members of the Kalamazoo community gathered at a public forum Monday to learn more about the Allied Paper landfill site and to voice concerns with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to consolidate and cap the site in Kalamazoo's Edison neighborhood."



"About 200 people joined city leaders and elected officials at the forum, sponsored by the Kalamazoo Peace Center, the Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition and WMU's environmental studies program, to talk about the long-contaminated property between Alcott and Cork streets that is part of the 80-mile Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site.

The EPA's $36-million plan calls for PCBs to be dug out from areas around the landfill, then added to the pile of contaminated soil that already is in the landfill, capped and monitored long-term. The EPA estimated in 2011 that to fully clean up the site it would cost $238 million, a price tag that has has since climbed by more than $100 million to about $366 million, according to city leaders."

Emily Monacelli reports for the Kalamazoo Gazette April 23, 2013.

Source: Kalamazoo Gazette, 04/24/2013