Public Notice: EPA Begins Five-Year Review of the Tar Lake Superfund Site
Summary
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a five-year review of the Tar Lake Superfund site in Mancelona Township. The Superfund law requires regular checkups of sites that have been cleaned up – with waste managed on-site – to make sure the cleanup continues to protect people and the environment. This is the fourth five-year review of this site.
EPA’s cleanup of the Tar Lake site included excavation and disposal of tar and contaminated soil, groundwater extraction and treatment, and onsite use restrictions. As the remedy was put in place, EPA removed two areas of the site from the Superfund program’s National Priorities List. In 2005 and 2012, EPA deleted 45 acres and 75 acres respectively, after completing cleanup activities. In 2013, EPA determined that additional soil excavation and an expansion of the groundwater treatment system was required.
The previous five-year review in 2019 found that the existing remedies in place throughout the site are protective of human health and the environment in the short term. However, EPA will need to implement the updated remedies proposed in 2013 to be protective in the long term. On December 17, 2021, EPA announced a $1 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to accelerate cleanup at dozens of Superfund sites across the country, including the Tar Lake site. Because of this investment, the Tar Lake site team is completing the design process for the remedies proposed in 2013, alongside the current five-year review process. The remedial design will be finalized in early 2024.
More information is available at the Mancelona Township Library, 202 W. Main St., Mancelona, Michigan; and at the Tar Lake Superfund web page. This five-year review will be completed by August 26, 2024.
The five-year-review is an opportunity for you to tell EPA about site conditions and any concerns you have.