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New Plans for Allied Paper Landfill Unveiled

The EPA's current plan for Allied Paper Landfill
courtesy photo

After a year of talks with the City of Kalamazoo, the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to consider another alternative for the Allied Paper Landfill. At a public meeting last night, the EPA and the city presented one of their collaborative plans. 

The design would consolidate the toxic PCB waste into a 60 foot capped mound, opening up half the area for redevelopment. The EPA’s remedial project manager for the Allied Landfill site Michael Berkhof says the EPA and the city will be asking for the public’s input on a variety of designs.

“We’d like to have one of these configurations included in the feasibility study as another alternative. And most certainly this one here that you see is one that the City of Kalamazoo, MDEQ, and EPA feel really strongly about.”

The EPA will make the final decision on remediation at the site. Kalamazoo City Development Manager Marc Hatton says the city would prefer total removal of the waste, but the EPA has made it clear that is not the most viable option.

Because the federal government did not renew the Superfund tax in the mid ‘90s, the EPA says estimates for the Allied project could go up to $360 million.

“It made it so we had fewer resources to deal with cleanup in sites like the Allied Paper site. So I think we’re getting closer and closer to the best possible solution for Kalamazoo. I think we still need to advocate that we are taking out as much of the material as possible,” says Kalamazoo State Representative Jon Hoadley.

If you have an idea for what to do with the Allied Paper Landfill site, submit your comments here.

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