Subject: Public Comments to the USEPA Intent to Designate the Gelman Sciences, Inc. Site, Michigan as a USEPA Superfund Site
From: Dan Bicknell, GEA President, and Michael Moran, Township Trustee and representatives on the Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane (CARD)
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has announced that it intends to make the large dioxane contaminated Gelman Site into a federal USEPA Superfund Site (also known as a National Priorities List Site), see linked press release. The USEPA is asking for public comments on their proposal to designated the Gelman Site as a USEPA Superfund Site and, thereby, allow federal resources to combat the dioxane groundwater contamination.
Our message below is a brief summary of the situation on the Gelman dioxane groundwater pollution, which is plaguing our community and adversely impacting public health and the environment. Your supporting comments to USEPA for a Gelman USEPA Superfund Site are very important. Please feel free to share this message with others.
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Public Comments to the Federal Register Request for Comments on the United States Environmental Protection Agency Intent to Designate the Gelman Sciences, Inc. Site, Scio Township, Michigan as a Federal National Priorities List Site
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) intends to make the Gelman Sciences, Inc. (Gelman) Site in Scio Township, Michigan, into a National Priorities List (NPL) Site (commonly called a federal Superfund Site). This will allow federal government resources to be used to obtain a clean-up of the Gelman dioxane groundwater contamination, which is polluting a pristine aquifer and private and public drinking water supplies. The USEPA is asking that the public provide comments on whether the Gelman Site should become a USEPA Superfund Site, see link to the USEPA page for public comments under the Browse Documents header. USEPA FR Gelman Superfund Site Public Comment Site
The State of Michigan and Gelman have a Consent Judgment for Gelman to perform clean-up actions, but it fails to remediate properly the pollution. Over the past 40 years and today, under the State-Gelman Consent Judgment, the dioxane groundwater contamination is allowed to expand and contaminate residential drinking water wells and Barton Pond, the City of Ann Arbor main drinking water supply. If the Gelman Site became a USEPA Superfund Site (NPL Site), following the USEPA Superfund Program objectives, the federal government would take-over from the State and compel Gelman to halt the dioxane groundwater plume from migrating and clean-up the aquifer to drinking water levels.
If you support the USEPA obtaining from Gelman a proper remediation of the dioxane groundwater pollution, please send your comments to the above linked USEPA web-site page for public comments to the Federal Register announcement.
Some key points are:
- The Gelman Site poses a danger to further contaminating local residential and municipal drinking water supplies;
- The Gelman dioxane groundwater pollution is degrading a pristine natural resource;
- The Gelman dioxane plume is polluting local surface waters;
- The State of Michigan has failed for 40 years to have Gelman properly clean-up the dioxane groundwater contamination;
- The State is allowing the dioxane plume to expand to residential drinking water wells; and
- There is no other non-federal cleanup alternative which will address the dioxane pollution.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at your convenience.
Thank you and best regards,
Daniel J. Bicknell, MPH, President
Global Environment Alliance, LLC
Phone – 248-720-9432
danjbicknell@live.com
