The Tittabawassee River/Saginaw River & Bay Site includes areas in and along a 24-mile stretch of the Tittabawassee River south of the confluence of the Chippewa River, the 22-mile Saginaw River, and portions of the 1,143 square mile Saginaw Bay. The rivers and floodplains include industrial, commercial, residential, and agricultural areas of Midland, Saginaw, and Bay Counties in Michigan. The Saginaw Bay watershed is one of Michigan's most diverse areas – its rich resources support agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, outdoor recreation, and a vast variety of wildlife.
Dioxins and furans are the primary contaminants in sediment and floodplain soil. These contaminants came from historical releases from the Dow Chemical Company’s Midland Plant.
EPA and MDEQ are taking a unique approach at the site – combining EPA’s Superfund program and MDEQ’s RCRA Hazardous Waste program to optimize cleanup of five areas: Dow’s Midland Plant, the City of Midland, the Tittabawassee River, the Saginaw River, and Saginaw Bay. MDEQ has the lead on the city and the Midland Plant, and EPA has the lead on the rivers and bay, but both agencies are working as partners to complete the job.
January 2010, EPA, MDEQ, and Dow entered into a comprehensive Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent to complete a Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study (RI/FS) and/or Engineering Evaluation and Cost and Cost Analysis (EE/CA), and Response Design (RD). Many required activities are being performed at the same time so that significant work can be accomplished on an accelerated schedule.
To accomplish this, the work has been divided into three types:
* Limiting contact with bare floodplain soil in areas frequently used by people;
* Controlling movement of highly contaminated soil and sediment through early actions; and
* Developing Comprehensive long-term cleanup options for the rivers and bay.
Information included here will highlight the early actions conducted to control movement of highly contaminated soil and sediment from a small island in the Tittabawassee River.
Island MM was removed and the nearby sediment was capped in 2011. This cleanup was done to control erosion of dioxins and furans from the island. The cap was designed to let the island restore itself naturally.
A total of 135 cy of island sediment was removed and a total of 120 cy of floodplain soils were removed. In addition, a 8,800 square-foot cap was installed over the remaining portion of the island and surrounding sediments.
