Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River NPL Site

State TrusteeState of Michigan
Federal TrusteeDepartment of Commerce
AO Bureau

Also Known As

Incident Type

Chemical

State

Michigan

Case Status

Assessment/Restoration

Location

Portage Creek and Kalamazoo River

Authority

Contaminants of Concern Include

Affected DOI Resources Include

Migratory Birds, Threatened and Endangered Species

Case Description

Industrial activities on the Kalamazoo River and Portage Creek released polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to those waterways and the surrounding environment. As a result, the U.S. EPA designated areas downstream of the releases of PCBs as the Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site, which stretches from Morrow Dam near Comstock, Michigan, downstream 80 miles to Lake Michigan. The Trustees for natural resources are conducting a NRDA to determine the amount of restoration needed both to return the Kalamazoo River Environment to what it would have been like if the contaminants had not been released and to compensate the public for the loss of use and enjoyment of their natural resources resulting from the contaminants. The Trustee agencies for this NRDA are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan Department of the Attorney General, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In a Stage I Assessment, the Trustees documented injuries including impaired reproduction of bald eagles, the presence of fish consumption advisories, and concentrations of PCBs in soils and sediments that are known to cause impairments to benthic invertebrates, mammals, and birds. Working with EPA, the State of Michigan, and the paper companies, the Trustees are working to ensure the cleanup actions are combined with removal of aging dams and eventual restoration of river and floodplain habitats. The Trustees have used funding from two bankruptcy settlements to conduct additional restoration projects. In December of 2019, the Trustees launched a website to collect additional ideas for restoration at the same time that they announced a settlement with NCR Corporation. The settlement was approved by the court on December 2, 2020 and is providing $25 million over 7 years for restoration and reimbursed the Trustees, collectively, for $2 million of their past assessment costs. Public meeting was held on January 13, 2020 at the Kalamazoo Public Library to describe the settlement with NCR and the opportunity for the public to provide restoration project ideas. In April of 2021, the Trustees released a Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan/EA to propose restoration projects for funding. Following public comment, the Trustees released a Final Supplemental Restoration Plan/EA in September of 2021 with 14 projects selected. The Trustees are working with partners to implement these projects.

Alcott Street Dam Structure, Credit: USFWS

Credit: Stratus consulting


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Factsheet

 Factsheet Fact Sheet 2005  
 Factsheet Fact Sheet 2012 05/01/2012
 Factsheet Kalamazoo River NRDA Summary of the Stage I Assessment  

Agreement

 MOA/MOU 1st Modification-Trustees Agreement 02/14/2005
 MOA/MOU Trustees Agreement 10/10/2003

Assessment

 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Draft Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 08/01/2015
 Restoration Implementation Report Evaluation of Mussel Survival from the Former Plainwell Impoundment Translocation 10/08/2010
 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Final Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Restoration Resulting from the Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Damage Assessment 08/29/2016
 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Final Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Restoration Resulting from the Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Appendices 08/29/2016
 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Kalamazoo River Supplemental Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment - Final 09/16/2021
 Restoration Report Plainwell Diversion Dam Mussel Translocation Report 03/19/2010
 Restoration Implementation Report Plainwell Impoundment Mussel Translocation Report 03/19/2010
 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Portage Creek and OU1 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment 08/01/2013
 PAS Form Preassessment Screen 05/30/2000
 Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Record of Decision for the Kalamazoo River Natural Resources Damage Assessment: Final Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 11/29/2016
 Assessment Report Stage I Assessment Report: Volume 1 - Injury Assessment 03/15/2005
 Assessment Report Stage I Assessment Report: Volume 2 - Economic Assessment 03/15/2005

Settlement (Showing 3 of 6 items. Group continues on the next page.)

 Complaint Compliant filed against NCR Corporation 12/11/2019
 Consent Decree Consent Decree (final) for U.S. and Michigan v. NCR Corporation for Allied Paper/Kalamazoo River/Portage Creek Superfund Site 12/02/2020
 Consent Decree Order for Consent Decree for U.S. and Michigan v. NCR Corporation 12/02/2020
 

No publications have been entered for this case.

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Case Contact

East Lansing Ecological Services Field Office

East Lansing, MI | (517) 351-2555 | http://www.fws.gov/midwest/EastLansing/

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