EPA Announces Proposed Tower Standard Petroleum Site Corrective Action Will Not Affect Historic Lac du Flambeau Reservation Properties
CHICAGO (September 29, 2022) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a determination under the National Historic Preservation Act that the proposed interim measure for the Tower Standard site, located at Haskell Lake at County Road D and State Highway 70 on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, will not impact any historic properties or cultural resources.
EPA will begin a 30-day public comment period on September 29. The agency has proposed a “no adverse effects” finding for contamination at the site because neither historic properties nor cultural resources will be adversely affected by the proposed interim measure. The Agency made its determination following historical research, an archaeological assessment and other requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Since 2011, EPA has worked with the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians to investigate petroleum contamination from leaking underground storage tanks at the former Tower Standard gasoline service station, which operated from the 1940s through the 1990s. The contamination was discovered when the tanks were removed in 1997.
EPA and the tribe want to address the source of the contamination to ensure that it doesn’t pose a threat to the environment or to public health. EPA recommends and the tribe agrees that an air sparge/soil vapor extraction system will be installed to address the remaining petroleum contamination at the site.
EPA invites the public to provide comments on the proposed no adverse effects finding between September 29 and October 31 by mail or email to:
Robert Egan, Project Manager, U.S. EPA Region 5, Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division (mail code LR-17J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, egan.robert@epa.gov.
For more information please contact Robert Egan or Community Involvement Coordinator Francisco Arcaute, arcaute.francisco@epa.gov.
More information can be found on the Tower Standard Petroleum website.