KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Despite a final remediation plan being on the horizon, a new wrinkle may be thrown into the community debate over the Allied Paper Landfill cleanup.
A private firm now claims it can treat the contaminated soil and neutralize the PCBs in place.
“We have been working on this technology in the lab since 1997 and in the field since 2004, and we’ve had 33 successful projects, among which we do have successful PCB projects, in the state of California,” BioPath Solutions representative Ann Lerums said.
She also said her company has a short window to get in on the project in Kalamazoo, which is in the final stages of planning.
But the EPA says the technique is unproven and the city is still skeptical, especially because it would take years to work and has never been tried in clay soils. Lerums also hasn’t given an estimated price on the proposal.
The first of two roundtable discussions on the Landfill cleanup was held last night. Another will be held next Thursday.
A public hearing on the current plan to shove all the contaminated soil into a hill and cap it, creating cleared land that can be redeveloped, will be held next month.
A final decision coming early next year.
– John McNeill
