Letter To Ms. Susan Hedman, Regional Administrator

Letter

Levin, Stabenow and Upton Express Concern Over Cleanup of Kalamazoo River Watershed

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today to express their concerns regarding cleanup of PCB contaminated sediments in the Kalamazoo River watershed. The letter inquires how the April 23, 2010, order approving the Lyondell Chemical Bankruptcy Settlement will impact the EPA's cleanup plan.

Last month, Levin, Stabenow and Upton expressed their concerns with the proposed settlement agreement for Lyondell Chemical regarding the Kalamazoo River Superfund site. A copy of their letter to DOJ is available here.

The full text of the letter to the EPA is below:

Ms. Susan Hedman
Regional Administrator
EPA Region 5
77 West Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590

Dear Administrator Hedman:

We are writing to you concerning the Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund site. As you know, this site is one of the largest Superfund sites in the country, and its cleanup is of the utmost importance to the people living in the Kalamazoo River watershed.

In 2008, the EPA announced a proposed timeline for the removal of contaminated sediments from this site. It called for cleanup to begin in 2010 in Area 2, from the Plainwell Dam to Otsego City Dam. As you may know, Lyondell Chemical, whose subsidiary Millennium Holdings is one of the Potentially Responsible Parties for this cleanup, announced bankruptcy in 2009 and recently received a judgment in bankruptcy court that requires them to pay only $103 million of the estimated $2.5 billion in cleanup costs. We are concerned about the impact of this settlement on the cleanup process and would appreciate your response to a number of questions regarding the EPA's plans going forward. We hope that these questions can be addressed at the EPA's public meeting next week in Kalamazoo on May 6th regarding the Allied Landfill portion of the cleanup.

* What is the impact of the Lyondell settlement on the EPA's cleanup plan?
* What is the impact of the settlement on the government's total funding obligations and the total amount of resources available for the clean up?
* How has the settlement impacted the current timetable for this project and specifically when will cleanup work resume?

The PCB contaminated sediments in the Kalamazoo River continue to be a danger to human health and a source of PCB pollutants in Lake Michigan, and we want to ensure they are cleaned up with all expediency. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Carl Levin, United States Senator

Debbie Stabenow, United States Senator

Fred Upton, Member of Congress

Source