Public Notice: Public Comment Period Begins on Proposed Cleanup Plan for the Forest Waste Products Superfund Site
Summary
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing an interim remedy to clean up groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, including 1,4-dioxane and vinyl chloride, at the Forest Waste Products site. The interim remedy will prevent the off-site migration of contaminated groundwater and residential exposure to groundwater contaminated with the VOCs.
The 120-acre Forest Waste Products site is in Forest Township, Michigan. Waste disposal areas on-site include an 11-acre landfill and nine former lagoons that spanned one acre. The landfill accepted waste materials from 1973 to 1978. Waste disposal operations contaminated soil and groundwater with hazardous chemicals. The site was listed on the National Priorities List in 1983. The former lagoons were cleaned up in 1989, and the landfill was capped in 1997. Groundwater monitoring has been conducted on- and off-site since 1993.
EPA is proposing to capture, extract and treat the groundwater through a series of sixteen new wells along Harris Rd. on the west side of the site. Extracted groundwater will be pumped through underground pipelines to a treatment facility that will be constructed on-site. Treated water will be discharged to the unnamed lake on the northeast side of the site.
EPA will accept comments from the public on the proposed plan from May 11 to June 10, 2026. You may provide comments at the public meeting on Wednesday, May 20, at 7 p.m., at The Forest Township Hall, 130 East Main Street, Otisville, MI.
Alternatively, you may comment online by emailing EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Lina Wu at (wu.lina@epa.gov). You may also submit written comments postmarked by June 10 to Lina Wu, U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 W Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604.
To find out more about the proposed plan and the site, please visit the site webpage.