Meeting Announced for Kalamazoo River Cleanup

An Environmental Protection Agency community advisory group (CAG) will host a meeting to discuss the cleanup of a Superfund sites along the Kalamazoo River.

The EPA formed this Kalamazoo River CAG to act as a public forum for anyone interested in learning about the site cleanup, talk about community needs and concerns, and develop recommendations from the community regarding the Allied Paper, Portage Creek, Kalamazoo River Superfund site.

Upcoming meeting will focus on learning about the different projects and areas of the site and will take place as follows:

• Thursday, September 26, 6-9 p.m., 400 N. 16th St., Otsego.

The Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site is located in Allegan and Kalamazoo Counties, Michigan. The site includes soil and sediments contaminated by a group of chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 80 miles of the Kalamazoo River (from Morrow Dam to Lake Michigan), paper mill properties, riverbanks and floodplains, and a 3-mile stretch of Portage Creek.

Since 1998, EPA has removed nearly 450,000 cubic yards of contaminated material from the site, cleaned up and restored seven miles of the Kalamazoo River and banks, and capped 82 acres worth of contaminated material to lock it away.