Saint Marys River Cleanup in Sault Ste Marie Gets Under Way This Week

No. 10-OPA047

CHICAGO (May 4, 2010) - The Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanup of a section of the Saint Marys River near the MCM Marine facility is now under way. On Feb. 1, 2010, E.P.A. and Consumers Energy Co. signed a plan arrangement to begin the cleanup of a section of the river. With $2.4 million provided by the Legacy Act and $1.6 million from Consumers Energy, E.P.A. and the utility will remove approximately 26,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, from the river adjacent to the property currently operated by MCM Marine. The location was formerly a manufactured gas plant.

The plan will be undertaken in 2 stages with dredging in the inner boat slip now under way and cleanup in the adjacent river area to be completed either this fall or spring 2011. The goal of the $4 million plan is to reduce impacts to human health and the environment and enhance water quality in the Saint Marys River.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) is a federal plan targeted at cleaning up contaminated sediment around the U.S. shores of the Great Lakes. The GLLA is now part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a $475 million effort to begin restoring and protecting the Great Lakes.

More information is accessible at: http://www.epa.gov/glla/glla_projects.html,or contact: Ajit Vaidya, U.S. E.P.A. Region 5, 312-353-5713, [email protected].

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