A permanent toxic PCB presence in the Kalamazoo River could happen if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues down the path of allowing the "potentially responsible parties" (PRPs) to cap an 800-foot section of the riverbanks along the Kalamazoo River in a pilot study supposedly designed to measure "natural attenuation" of the toxicity of PCBs.

The Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site is 80 miles long and sends 200 pounds per year of PCBs, highly toxic compounds once used as de-inking agents for paper mills, downstream to Lake Michigan. The site was listed on the Superfund national priorities list and has been under investigation since 1990. In 2001, the Engler/Harding Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) formally asked the EPA to take over the remediation investigation and feasibility study, most likely under pressure from the PRPs who didn't like the direction the DEQ project managers were taking.

Unfortunately, since the Superfund tax hasn't been reauthorized by Congress since it expired in 1995, EPA no longer has a hammer to clean up sites where recalcitrant PRPs refuse to clean up their contamination. The hammer was that EPA would do the cleanup and then bill the PRPs for triple the cost. That was often enough to convince PRPs to initiate remediation activities on their own. But for the Kalamazoo River, it's been said that "…the PRPs are calling the shots."

State Sen. Patty Birkholz (R-Saugatuck) hosted a legislative briefing meeting on May 26 for elected officials and stakeholders to hear from the agencies on the current status of the Kalamazoo River. EPA Project Manager Shari Kolak stated the pilot study won't happen this year-yet she did not say that it won't happen at all. Sen. Birkholz suggested they all meet again in September, a very welcome plan, as the more scrutiny on the site by state decision-makers, the more likely things will begin to move again on the site. The other important outcome of the meeting is a commitment from EPA to work more closely with the public.