Region 5 Superfund (SF)

U.S. EPA REGION 5
INGHAM COUNTY
LANSING TOWNSHIP

Congressional District # 08

MOTOR WHEEL, INC.

EPA ID# MID980702989
Last Updated: October, 2006

Site Description

Motor Wheel is a 24-acre site, located in the city of Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan. The property was used by Motor Wheel Corporation as a disposal site for industrial wastes from 1938 until about 1978. The disposed wastes included solid and liquid industrial wastes, paints, solvents, liquid acids and caustics, sludges, and other substances hazardous to human health and the environment. Wastes were disposed of on the property in tanks, barrels, seepage ponds, and open fill operations. Between 1970 and 1982, three cleanup actions were initiated that resulted in the excavation and offsite disposal of waste materials, including solid wastes, paint sludges, and oils. In 1978, while stripping overburden from onsite sand and gravel deposits, industrial wastes and degraded soils were exposed. The exposed materials were excavated, stockpiled on the western part of the site, and covered with clay. All operations at the site were discontinued in 1987. No use of the glacial aquifer groundwater has been identified in the vicinity of the site. 

Site Responsibility

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

Threats and Contaminants

Groundwater is contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including toluene and pentachlorophenol (PCP). The site is easily accessible to the public; however, the deep pits, created by sand and gravel mining activities, present a significant physical hazard. Ponds also exist in the bottom of the pits. Potential health risks exist for individuals who drink or come into contact with the contaminated groundwater. 

Cleanup Progress

On June 26, 1987, Motor Wheel Corporation, W.R. Grace & Co., and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company signed an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), agreeing to conduct a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) at the Motor Wheel site. The RI/FS identified risk to human health and the environment, associated with an onsite waste mass and an offsite plume of contaminated groundwater.

A Record of Decision (ROD) was signed on September 30, 1991, and a 1994 Consent Decree, signed by the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, required the respondents to implement the remedy selected in the 1991 ROD.

Design of the cap portion of the remedy was conducted under an AOC, effective May 26, 1992.  The final design of the cap was completed in May 1997, and cap construction was completed in July 1999.  At first, one extraction well and the groundwater treatment system were started, and the PRPs continued to design additional groundwater extraction wells to expand the system.  In December 2002, two additional extraction wells were brought on line along with several other improvements to the pump and treat system that have resulted in a four-fold increase in the quantity of groundwater from the Glacial and Saginaw aquifers being extracted, treated, and discharged.  Ongoing activities include the pumping and treatment of affected groundwater, quarterly monitoring, and cap maintenance.

Contacts

Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
william ryan (ryan.williamj@epa.gov)
(312) 353-4374

Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA
bob paulson
(312) 886-0272

Aliases

MOTOR WHEEL
MOTOR WHEEL OLD DSPL SITE

 

Site Profile Information

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