State and federal agencies, acting as trustees for the natural resources of the Kalamazoo River, will be available Tuesday, July 19, 2005, to discuss the Stage 1 Natural Resource Damage Assessment Reports for the Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site. The public availability session will take place from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Comfort Inn, 622 Allegan Street (M-89), Plainwell, Michigan.
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 (USFWS), and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). MDNR only recently became a trustee and therefore did not participate in the development of the Stage 1 reports. Members of the public will have an opportunity to talk about the reports with trustee representatives from MDEQ, USFWS, MDNR and NOAA.
The reports, released in March 2005, 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, the trustees analyzed 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.
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 reports are available for viewing at the Allegan Public Library, Otsego District Library, Saugatuck-Douglas Library, and the Waldo Library at Western Michigan University and on the internet at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/kalamazooNRDA/.
Questions regarding the meeting should be directed to Dr. Lisa Williams, USFWS, at 517-351-8324 or Judy Gapp, MDEQ, at 517-373-7402. Persons needing special accommodations for effective participation in the meeting should contact Dr. Williams by July 14, 2005.
The USFWS 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.
