Ironwood Manufactured Gas Plant Site

Site Information

Enlarge map

Ironwood, Michigan (Gogebic County)
EPA ID# MIN000510500

Photos

Circa 1926 photo of the Ironwood manufactured gas plant. (Click to enlarge)

Contact Information

Community Involvement Coordinator
Patricia Krause (krause.patricia@epa.gov)
312-886-9506 or 800-621-8431, ext. 9506

On-Scene Coordinator
Kathy Halbur (halbur.kathy@epa.gov)
920-634-9072

Jacob Hassan (hassan.jacob@epa.gov)
312-886-6864 or 800-621-8431, ext. 6864

Additional Contacts
Scott Erickson
City of Ironwood
ericksons@cityofironwood.org
906-932-5050

Lynne Madison
Western Upper Peninsula Health Department
lmadison@hline.org
906-482-7382, ext. 107

Steve Harrington
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
harringtons@michigan.gov
906-346-8507

Phil Richard
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
philip.richard@wisconsin.gov
715-762-1352

Repositories

(where to view written records)

Carnegie Library
235 E. Aurora St.
Ironwood, Mich.

Links

EPA Superfund Home Page
Region 5 Superfund
Superfund glossary
Superfund Information Systems Frequent Questions

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry

Background

The former Ironwood Manufactured Gas Plant, located on the northwest corner of Hemlock and West Ayer streets in Ironwood produced and distributed gas to the communities of Ironwood, Mich., and Hurley, Wis., until the late 1950s. Contamination from coal tar was discovered during a bridge construction project.The results of environmental studies performed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at the former plant site and along the Montreal River next to the site showed the presence of hazardous substances. EPA confirmed the presence of pollutants moving from the plant site into surrounding soil and ground water as well as the Montreal River and started planning for the cleanup. The city of Ironwood, who owns the site, is coorperating and assisting in the cleanup.

Site Updates |Fact Sheets || Legal Agreements

Site Updates

October 2012

EPA is demobilizing and work is stopping at the site. Beginning in spring 2013 construction will start up again. Office hours are now discontinued.

August 2012

EPA's planned cleanup will begin in August and continue for about three months. The source of the pollution is buried coal tar and MGP process waste. During construction waste will be dug up, removed and properly disposed of. Heavy equipment will be used, efforts will be made to minimize truck traffic, noise and dust. There will likely be odors during cleanup. More information is in the Old Gas Plant Site Undergoes EPA Cleanup fact sheet.

Old Gas Plant Site Undergoes EPA Cleanup (PDF) (2 pp, 197K) August 2012

You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.