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.
