Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
ANTRIM COUNTY
MANCELONA TOWNSHIP

Congressional District # 01

TAR LAKE

EPA ID# MID980794655
Last Updated: December, 2006

Site Description

The Tar Lake site is located in Mancelona Township, Antrim County, Michigan. The 200-acre Tar Lake site is a former iron works facility that operated from 1882 to 1945.  Secondary manufacturing processes on the site generated a tar waste similar to residue from still bottoms.  The tar residue was emptied into a natural surface depression on the property.  The last operator at the site was Fifty-Sixth Century, a subsidiary of Viacom International Inc.

Site Responsibility

This site is being addressed through federal, state and potentially responsible parties' actions. 

Threats and Contaminants

Ground water under the site contains benzene and 2, 4-dimethylphenol above acceptable levels.  Off site ground water contains phenols, manganese and lead.  The sludge or "tar" contains phenols and metals including iron, lead, nickel, chromium, and copper.  Touching the sludge poses an acute health hazard.  Using the contaminated groundwater for drinking or showering also poses a health risk.  Low levels of contaminants were found in residential wells and there are taste and odor problems with the groundwater. 

Cleanup Progress

EPA selected a cleanup remedy for part of the site (Operable Unit 1) in a 1992 Record of Decision (ROD).  EPA's cleanup plan was to excavate the tar and the contaminated soils beneath the tar, contain the material in specially constructed cells on the site; install a temporary system to keep groundwater contaminants from spreading, and using institutional controls like land and groundwater use restrictions to prevent people from coming into contact with the contaminated material and groundwater. 

In 1993 site owner Viacom agreed to conduct the engineering design for the cleanup under an Administrative Order on Consent with EPA.  Viacom conducted some additional studies and in 1995 Viacom proposed to take the excavated tar to an off site facility for reuse instead of containing it on site.  EPA agreed, and in 1998 and 1999 EPA, with partial funding from Viacom, removed 47,000 tons of tar from the site and transported it to an electrical power generating plant where it was used as fuel.  The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality also installed a temporary groundwater treatment system at the site and began providing bottled water to residents with site-related contamination in their wells above State Secondary Drinking Water Standards.

In 1999 EPA began a remedial investigation and feasibility study for the rest of the 200 acre site (Operable Unit 2).  EPA selected a cleanup remedy for this part of the site in a 2002 ROD.  EPA's cleanup plan in the 2002 ROD included reducing or removing the remaining tar residual in the "rind" beneath Tar Lake, continued operation of the temporary groundwater treatment system, monitoring, and land and groundwater use restrictions.

In 2004 EPA ordered the property owners and Viacom (who no longer owned the site) to remove the rind of contamination beneath the Tar Lake depression and a small patch of tar/creosote on the ground adjacent to Nelson Lake on the Tar Lake site.  The property owners and Viacom could not/would not comply with the order and EPA began the cleanup.  In 2004 EPA excavated 21,000 tons of rind material and 225 tons of surface tar/creosote from the site and transported it to a nearby landfill.  The groundwater treatment system continues to operate and EPA expects it will take about 3 to 5 years for on site groundwater contamination to fall below State and Federal cleanup goals.  EPA issued a Preliminary Closeout Report for the site in 2004 and in 2005 EPA delisted part of the site from the National Priorities List.

A Redevelopment Plan for portions of the Tar Lake site has been completed and EPA and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality continue to meet with local redevelopers to coordinate the reuse of unimpacted portions of the site and properties adjacent to the Tar Lake site.  One plan includes possible recreational use of the site.   EPA will conduct a 5-year review for the site in 2009.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
karen cibulskis (cibulskis.karen@epa.gov)
(312) 886-1843

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
stuart hill
(312) 886-0689

Aliases

ANTRIM IRON WORKS
GULF & WESTERN ANTRIM PROP (TAR LAKE)

 

Site Profile Information

This profile provides you with information on EPA's cleanup progress at this Superfund site.