Contacts
Frank Horvath, USFWS 612-713-5336
Nan Leemon, MDEQ 517-373-4828
State and federal agencies, acting as trustees for the natural
resources of the Kalamazoo River, have released reports that estimate the
extent of injury and damage to fish, wildlife, and habitat from the release
of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the river, primarily from paper
mills along the river. The contamination occurred primarily during the mills’ process
of de-inking carbonless copy paper, which contained high concentrations of
PCBs.
In the reports, called Stage I reports, the Trustees analyze
the extent of PCB releases into the Kalamazoo River environment and the resulting
injuries to natural resources. The reports also estimate impacts on recreational
fishing due to fish consumption advisories, discuss possible additional damages,
and provide a plan for evaluating possible ways to restore the river’s
natural resources.
Trustees for the Kalamazoo River currently include the Michigan
Departments of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and Natural Resources (MDNR),
the Michigan Attorney General, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s
Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. MDNR only recently became a trustee
and therefore did not participate in the development of the Stage I reports.The
reports conclude that some species of fish and wildlife, along with water,
sediments and floodplain soils, have been injured by PCBs released into the
Kalamazoo River and that those resources should be restored. In addition,
the reports note that the public has lost the use of some of these natural
resources and should be compensated for these losses through additional restoration.
In particular, the reports note that decades of fish consumption
advisories imposed to limit the amount of contaminated fish eaten by the
public have resulted in lost recreational fishing opportunities for area
residents and visiting anglers.
The reports are part of a Natural Resources Damage Assessment,
or NRDA, that evaluates the impacts on fish, wildlife, and other natural
resources when contaminants are released into the environment. The goal of
the NRDA is to identify options to restore injured resources and determine
how much restoration is needed.
The Kalamazoo River NRDA is being done concurrently with ongoing
efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and MDEQ-Superfund
Section to address contamination at the Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo
River Superfund Site. These efforts focus on ways to protect human health
and the environment, while the NRDA seeks to restore injured natural resources
and the benefits they provide to the public, as well as to compensate the
public for the loss of those benefits.
The Trustees are working with the U.S. EPA, MDEQ-Superfund
Section and the paper companies to find cost-effective ways to clean up the
contaminants and restore natural resources. Although the Stage I reports
were developed outside the ongoing mediated discussions among these parties,
they will now be used in those discussions to determine what additional assessment
may be needed as cleanup progresses.
The reports and related documents are available on the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service website at http://midwest.fws.gov/nrda/kalamazoo,
at local libraries (Allegan Public Library, Charles Ransom Library, Kalamazoo
Public Library, Otsego District Library, Saugatuck-Douglas Library and Waldo
Library), or by contacting Lisa Williams of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
at (517-351-8324) or Nan Leemon of the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality at (517-373-2848).
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological
services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers
the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts.
It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds
of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to
state fish and wildlife agencies.
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