Toxic canal cleanup stalls

St. Clair Shores -- Toxic contamination of the 10 Mile drain and two connecting canals in St. Clair Shores remains bad enough that state officials will ask the Environmental Protection Agency to designate the area a Superfund site.

Seven years and $10 million worth of cleanup efforts have failed to remove hazardous polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, from the canals. An official with Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said a report that has not been released will be sent to the EPA, asking the federal agency to place the 10 Mile Drain area on its National Priorities List.

The program, created in the late 1970s after contamination was discovered at the Love Canal near Niagara Falls, addresses abandoned hazardous waste sites. Locations on the Superfund list, including 65 in Michigan, are eligible for federal cleanup assistance.

For residents in the affected area, listing as a Superfund site is a good and bad proposition. Federal involvement could bring the resources needed to solve the PCB problem once and for all.

But home values in the area have already been hard-hit by publicity surrounding the problem and a Superfund designation isn't likely to help that situation.

"Anyone trying to sell their home here already has to provide a disclaimer (to potential buyers) about the presence of PCBs," said Bruce Terwilliger, who lives along one of the affected canals. Having the Superfund label, he added, could make things worse before cleanup efforts begin.

But the EPA has worked on the St. Clair Shores problem before, and many residents have been dissatisfied with the results.

After samples taken from the Lange and Revere canals in 2001 showed levels of PCB far above safety standards, the agency collaborated on four years of work to locate and remediate the contamination with little success.

"I blame the EPA because when they were here, they should have ripped out the pipes and put a new system in," said longtime Revere Street resident Dave Consiglio. "... Now they're going to continue to spend millions of dollars because they didn't do it right the first time."

Michigan's DEQ will send its recommendation to the federal agency this month. .

Curt Dumas, director of the St. Clair Shores Department of Public Works, said a spot on the Superfund list would be helpful in the long run.

"To qualify for more federal dollars, (the area) has to be classified as Superfund site," he said. "I really believe the work we're doing right now is going to help pinpoint where the smoking gun is."

PCBs banned since '70s

PCBs have been found to cause a range of illness, from acne and rashes to liver cancer, and the federal government banned their use in the 1970s.

Despite years of searching the area, bounded by Bon Brae Street to the north, 10 Mile to the south, Harper Avenue to the west and Jefferson Avenue to the east, the source of the contamination remains elusive.

"The pollutants are still coming down the drain," said Wayne State University Professor Ed Van Hees, who has researched the area's pollution problems. "They haven't found the source, and they haven't cleaned it up."

Several times in the past, local officials have said they had discovered the source of the PCB contamination but have ultimately been proven wrong. At times, samples taken in the drain area have produced contamination levels that are hundreds of thousands of times higher than what is considered safe for human contact.

Efforts date to 2002

The EPA first arrived on the scene in 2002 after sampling showed the presence of PCBs the year before. The agency dredged the canals and removed sediment from local storm drains.

Officials hoped the 18-month process had solved the problem. Subsequent tests, however, showed that the PCBs remained.

In 2006, the EPA lined the inside of a portion of the 10 Mile drainage pipe with a plastic cover to prevent contaminants from entering. That sleeve may have helped drop the PCB levels in recent years, but the jury is still out.

The EPA has spent roughly $8.5 million on the 10 Mile drain issue and Macomb County's Department of Public Works has spent another $1 million. The city of St. Claire Shores contributed $500,000 from grant money it received.

But the source of the contamination is still a mystery.

Terwilliger is among those residents who believe they know who's responsible for the problem.

For years, rumors have persisted of DTE Energy transformers being stockpiled on property near the Bon Brae/Harper Avenue intersection. And underneath that intersection is where engineers contracted by the city of St. Clair Shores believe the PCBs have collected over the years after leaking from some other location.

In 2003, Macomb County's environmental prosecutor said the DTE link had been investigated but turned up nothing.

List puts priority on polluter

Once a site is placed on the National Priorities List, the EPA tries to identify the polluter responsible to assess them for the cost of cleanup.

EPA spokesman Mick Hans said 70 percent of long-term Superfund cleanup work gets paid for by the responsible party.

That's one reason Terwilliger, 75, said he hopes the EPA takes on the project.

"I'll be happy if they get involved," the Lange Street resident said. "They need to get in here and get something done because nothing's happening here except at a snail's pace because there's no money. The only way this will get completed in a reasonable time is if the federal government steps in."

Start date can be years away

Even if the 10 Mile drain area is given Superfund status, it may be years before work begins. Once a site is submitted for inclusion on the list, Hans said it can be a matter of a few months or two years before a final decision is made.

The National Priorities List is updated twice a year, and projects are prioritized on the severity of the situation. Because of the priority approach, Hans said the starting work on a site can take months to two years.

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