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Sheboygan River and Harbor Superfund Site
Site Information
- Sheboygan, WI (Sheboygan County)
- EPA ID# WID980996367
- NPL Site Narrative
- NPL Fact Sheet
- ROD info
- CERCLIS listing
- Alias(es): N/A
- Photos
Contact Information
Community Involvement Coordinator
Susan Pastor (pastor.susan@epa.gov)
312-353-1325 or 800-621-8431, ext. 31325
Remedial Project Manager
Pablo Valentin(valentin.pablo@epa.gov)
312-353-2886 or 800-621-8431, ext. 32886
Assistant Regional Counsel
Richard Nagle (nagle.richard@epa.gov)
312-353-8222 or 800-621-8431, ext. 38222
Repositories
(where to view written records)
Mead Public Library
710 North 8th Street
Sheboygan, WI
Links
Refer to the WPSC Campmarina MGP Site for additional information.
Sheboygan River Area of Concern
EPA Superfund Home Page
Region 5 Superfund
Superfund
glossary
Background
The Sheboygan River and Harbor site includes the lower 14 miles of the river from the Sheboygan Falls Dam downstream to, and including, the inner harbor. This segment of the river flows through Sheboygan Falls, Kohler and Sheboygan before entering Lake Michigan. The Tecumseh Product Co. plant in Sheboygan Falls is located on the upper river and is considered the primary source of PCB contamination in river sediment. Soil and surface water is also contaminated with PCBs and heavy metals including arsenic, chromium, copper, lead and zinc.
Update -
October 2008
EPA oversaw the completion of upper river dredging by Pollution Risk Services, the company that bought the former Tecumseh Products facility in Sheboygan Falls, last year. As the new owner, PRS is financially responsible for this part of the cleanup. Discussions on the remainder of the cleanup are ongoing. A new legal agreement with PRS was reached in early October. This will allow the company to continue to take samples and design the cleanup for the middle river, lower river and inner harbor. The next steps will involve more sediment (mud) samples in the river next spring. Workers donning coveralls and boots will be in small boats putting their sampling equipment in the water. Some will also be stationed along the shoreline preparing those samples to be sent to a lab for analysis. Floodplain soil on Kohler Co. property will be sampled after the company gives PRS permission to do so.
A fish and sediment monitoring plan was approved in August for the Upper River. This will be followed to give PRS and EPA an idea of how the river is recovering after the dredging. An initial report is expected this winter.
A status review of the cleanup to date is scheduled to start this fall. The Superfund law requires regular reviews of sites (at least every five years) -- where the cleanup is complete or where cleanup has been ongoing for at least five years -- but hazardous waste remains managed on-site. These reviews are done to ensure that the cleanup continues to protect people and the environment. In particular, EPA will be looking at past river dredging and other cleanup activities at the former Tecumseh facility in nearby Sheboygan Falls. This is the first five-year review for the Sheboygan River and Harbor. A “five-year review report” will be completed by September 2009. Contact the site community involvement coordinator and/or the remedial project manager (links provided in Contact Information box at right) to provide public input on the review process.
Cleanup of the upper portion of the Sheboygan River is done. This involved dredging contaminated sediment from the former Tecumseh Products plant in Sheboygan Falls to the Waelderhaus Dam. The sediment was stored in large geotextile "tubes." Water was squeezed out of the tubes and the remaining cleaned sediment was taken to a licensed landfill for proper disposal. Other phases to clean up the middle river, lower river and inner harbor will be done separately. The upper river will be monitored to ensure that the cleanup measures are working.
Cleanup of PCB-contaminated soil, floodplain soil and ground water at the former Tecumseh facility in Sheboygan Falls was finished in 2005. Sources of PCB contamination were identified and controlled. Ground-water PCBs heading toward the river, surface soil and riverbank soil have been cleaned up.
What are PCBs?
PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, are toxic chemicals that were once widely used as industrial coolants, insulators and lubricants. PCBs can concentrate in the environment and the food chain, resulting in health hazards to people, fish and wildlife. Because of these dangers, the U.S. government banned the manufacture of new PCBs in 1976. PCBs still in use are strictly regulated.
PCB Information
EPA's PCB home page
PCBs
and your health (WI DHFS) 
ATSDR's
Toxicological profile for PCBs
ATSDR's Tox
FAQs for PCBs
Site Updates | News Releases | Fact Sheets || Technical Documents || Legal Agreements || Public Meetings
You will need the free Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
Site Updates
News Releases
- Dredging begins at Sheboygan River site, June 2006
Fact Sheets
- Completion of Upper River Cleanup Scheduled for this Summer April 2007 (PDF) (4pp, 672K)
- Second Phase of Upper River Cleanup Starting this Summer (PDF) (2pp, 92K) May 2006
- First phase of Upper River cleanup to begin soon (PDF) (2pp, 63K) August 2004
- EPA Signs Agreement for Upper River Cleanup (PDF) (2pp, 159K) May 2003
- U.S. EPA Makes Final Decision on Sheboygan River and Harbor Cleanup (PDF) (137K) May 2000
- The Sheboygan River and Harbor Proposed Plan is still available and the Comment Period has been extended (PDF) (199K) June 1999
- Proposed Plan for Cleanup of the Sheboygan River and Harbor Superfund Site (PDF) (462K) May 1999
- Feasibility Study Completed for Sheboygan River and Harbor Superfund Site (PDF) (146K) January 1999
- Feasibility Study Nears Completion (PDF) (135K) November 1998
Technical Documents
- Record of Decision (PDF) (115 pp, 3.1MB) May 2000
Legal Agreements
- Final Consent Decree (PDF)
(81pp, 339K) May 2003
The comment period on the Notice of Lodging of the Consent Decree, United States v. Tecumseh Products Company, begins May 22, 2003.
Public Meetings
- Transcript from August 4, 2003 Public Meeting (PDF) (70pp, 173K)