KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo’s Mayor is declaring victory in the decades-long struggle to convert the Allied Paper dumpsite from a contaminated eyesore into a community asset.
There is still a lot to do, but Mayor David Anderson says a plan is in place and the work has begun.
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The City Commission got an update on the clean-up of the 80 acre south side dump yesterday.
Vice Mayor Don Cooney remembers the Environmental Protection Agency’s original plan was to pile all of the PCB’s recovered from West Michigan at the site near Cork and Alcott.
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After years of slogging through the complex Environmental Protection Agency planning process, Anderson says they finally settled on a design that should result in a portion of the site being redeveloped for recreational and commercial use.
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The reclamation began last year and won’t be finished until 2024.
Sustainability Director Jamie McCarthy says work to isolate the PCB’s in an 80 foot mound away from Portage Creek is being monitored for dust, odors and noise to keep it from becoming a nuisance for neighbors.
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The former paper manufacturers responsible for the mess are paying for the $50 million project with a little left over to continue groundwater and air monitoring for decades to come.
(reporting from John McNeill)
