The Kalamazoo Community Foundation recently announced the Spirit of Community Environment Fund grant recipients for 2014. The Kalamazoo River Watershed Council’s proposal to conduct non-point source inventories along the Kalamazoo River and connecting tributaries in Kalamazoo County was selected for funding. We are grateful for their support and look forward to advancing our watershed implementation plan. As part of this project, we will connect with a variety of stakeholders to further advance and prioritize their water quality project ideas.
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EPA Superfund public meeting, December 4, 2013
EPA recently announced their next public informational meeting for the Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund Site will take place on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at 6:30 pm at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo (map).
According to EPA’s latest fact sheet, the purpose of the meeting is to update the community about the recently completed PCB cleanup at Portage Creek and other locations of the Allied Paper/Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Site. EPA expects to finalize and release the feasibility study for Allied Landfill later this month, although this document will not propose a specific cleanup plan for the site. According to EPA, the proposed cleanup plan will be developed and presented at a subsequent public meeting in 2014. The proposed plan will be open to public comment around the same time period.
Next TMDL point source meeting, October 17
Please join us on Thursday, October 17 from 9:00 – 11:00 am for a meeting of the Lake Allegan/Kalamazoo River Phosphorus TMDL Point Source Committee. The meeting is open to the public and held at the Kalamazoo Water Reclamation Plant, 1415 N. Harrison St., Kalamazoo, MI 49007.
An agenda will be posted on our website the week of meeting.
US EPA finishes PCB cleanup of Portage Creek
The Kalamazoo Gazette recently reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is wrapping up a two-year Time-Critical Removal Action cleanup project in Portage Creek. The project involved removing PCB-contaminated sediment from the stream bed, banks, and floodplain along sections of a 3-mile stretch of Portage Creek. Starting in the 2012 construction season, EPA and contractors have been working in sections along the creek from East Cork Street north to where the creek meets the Kalamazoo River. More information is available on EPA’s website about the specific sections of the stream that have been cleaned up, which total 1.8 miles.
Recent information about the cleanup can be found in the Kalamazoo Gazette article.