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EPA picks cleanup plan for Cedarburg, Wis., Superfund site

Release Date: 04/03/2008
Contact Information: Mick Hans, (312) 353-5050, [email protected]; Susan Pastor, 312-353-1325, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 08-OPA048

(Chicago, Ill. - April 3, 2008) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has selected a $2.7 million cleanup plan for the Cedar Creek Mercury Marine Plant 2 Superfund site in Cedarburg, Wis. A comment period including a public meeting was held in October 2007.

EPA, in consultation with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, evaluated four cleanup options and has selected Option #4, which involves excavation of shallow and subsurface soil at the Plant 2 site plus ground-water monitoring. A separate plan to address ground-water contamination will be done at a later date.

PCBs from two local companies - now-closed Amcast and Mercury Marine - contaminated Cedar Creek (from below the Ruck Pond Dam to its intersection with the Milwaukee River), the Plant 2 property, the former Amcast property and some nearby private properties. EPA Superfund involvement at the site began in 2003. Mercury Marine and Wisconsin DNR began studying the site in 1983.

PCBs were once widely used by industry as coolants, insulators and lubricants. The manufacture of PCBs in the United States was stopped in 1977, but the compound stays a long time in the environment. They are linked to cancer, as well as reproductive and developmental problems in people and animals. PCB-contaminated river sediment affects fish, wildlife and people as it rises through the food chain. In the 1970s, Wisconsin

advised residents not to eat fish from various rivers throughout the state because of the contamination. The advisories are still in effect.

Copies of the study that details EPA's final cleanup plan, the Record of Decision and other site documents are on the Web at https://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/cedarcreek and on file at Cedarburg City Hall, W63 N645 Washington Ave., and Cedarburg Public Library, W63 N583 Hanover Ave. Questions may be directed to EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Susan Pastor, 800-621-8431, Ext. 31325, or [email protected].