Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
WEXFORD COUNTY
CADILLAC

Congressional District # 02

NORTHERNAIRE PLATING

EPA ID# MID020883609
Last Updated: September, 2008

Site Description

The Northernaire Plating Company (Northernaire) site is located within the Cadillac Industrial Park, which covers approximately a square mile along the northern border of the city of Cadillac, Wexford Country, Michigan. Northernaire was a small electroplating facility that operated on 13 acres of land in the southwest portion of the industrial park. From 1971 to 1981, Northernaire did custom chromium and nickel plating work on metal parts. Improper waste handling and faulty sewer systems led to the release of hexavalent chromium and cadmium into surrounding soils and groundwater.

The groundwater contamination from the Northernaire site is commingled with that from other facilities in the industrial park, including another facility designated as a National Priorities List (NPL) site, Kysor Industrial Corporation. Impacted groundwater has migrated northward toward a residential area north of the industrial park in Haring Township. Contamination in the groundwater has also migrated downward, impacting both the shallow and intermediate aquifer in the vicinity of the site. The municipal well field for the city of Cadillac draws water from the deep bedrock aquifer and has not been affected by contamination from the Northernaire site.

 

Site Responsibility

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

Threats and Contaminants

Groundwater was contaminated with heavy metals such as cadmium and chromium. Prior to cleanup, soil that contained heavy metals and sediments was contaminated with cadmium, chromium, and volatile organic compounds. People who trespassed on the site and accidentally ingested or came into direct contact with contaminated soil or sediment may have been exposed to pollutants. Drinking or coming into direct contact with contaminated groundwater may pose a health threat. 

Cleanup Progress

In 1983, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) removed drums, vats, and other containers from the Northernaire building and excavated approximately 120 feet of leaking sewer line outside the building. The State of Michigan completed cleanup of the source area using federal funds in 1988. The cleanup included removing over 1,000 cubic yards of soils, additional sewer piping, and a portion of the building floor. 

Following the groundwater investigation by the State of Michigan and completion of the cleanup design by potentially responsible parties (PRPs) under a U.S. EPA order in 1995, U.S. EPA issued three Administrative Orders for Remedial Action to six industrial and individual PRPs. These orders addressed groundwater cleanup of the Northernaire site in combination with cleanup of the groundwater beneath the Kysor Industrial site.

Cleanup activities included construction of an 18-well groundwater extraction system, a groundwater treatment system, including air stripping and carbon adsorption; associated collection and discharge piping; a soil vapor extraction system with a vapor phase carbon adsorption for contaminated soils at the Kysor Industrial site; and removal of approximately 1,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil at another property in the industrial park. All construction was completed by September 1996.

Currently, the groundwater system is treating approximately two million gallons of water per day for discharge to the Clam River. The system continues to operate as designed.  The third five-year review report for the Northernaire site was completed in 2005 and determined that the site remedy remains protective of human health and the environment.  Currently, all groundwater monitoring wells tested for chromium have been in compliance with the required cleanup levels for hexavalent and total chromium since at least May 2001.  

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
mary tierney (tierney.mary@epa.gov)
(312) 886-4785

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

Aliases

KAISOR INDUSTRIAL

 

Site Profile Information

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