The EPA is taking public comments on their proposed cleanup plan. The plan recommends consolidating the existing contaminated sediment on to 27 acres of the property, capping, and long-term monitoring. This plan will allow for areas outside of the cap to be redeveloped. A full copy of the cleanup plan and other supplemental materials can be found on EPA’s Kalamazoo River Project website, including how to submit your comments for public record. The City of Kalamazoo and many community organizations are in support of this remedy at the former Allied Landfill site. [Download the factsheet]
Thank you Water Festival volunteers!
In September we brought back the Kalamazoo Water Festival after a five year hiatus. Since the last festival lots has happened on the Kalamazoo River, its tributaries, and the watershed and we were ready to celebrate all of the good work that has been accomplished. The festival was a great success and we owe a huge “THANK YOU” to the many volunteers who came out to help for the entire day. We were so overwhelmed and excited by the huge response we received when asking for community volunteers. We could not be more pleased with those who volunteers and others in attendance at the festival for your enthusiasm and dedication to our precious natural resources. It proves once again that together we can do great things.
Working on removal
We have failing, defunct dams along the Kalamazoo River that linger in large part because they hold back contaminated sediments. This is one of the costs of deferring the cleanup of contaminated sediments. Several of these dams are long past their useful and safe lifespans. State agencies and other local stakeholders have been diligently working to align both funding and timing of sediment removal to tear out these old dams.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/04/kalamazoo_river_may_be_redirec.html
Futher monitoring finds no eDNA from Asian carp
Earlier this summer the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found environmental DNA, or eDNA from Asian carp in the Kalamazoo River, prompting further surveillance efforts. State and federal agencies are closely monitoring the Great Lakes region for evidence of Asian carp, a group of invasive carp species that would have a devastating effect on the Great Lakes fishery and ecosystem.
The results are in: no further Asian carp eDNA was found in the Kalamazoo River during the most recent round of monitoring. Read the full press release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources…