EPA Orders Cleanup on Remaining Stretch of Fox River
EPA Region 5 has ordered a group of companies responsible for PCB-contaminated sediment in Wisconsin's Lower Fox River to meet a pair of deadlines geared to accelerating an estimated $390 million cleanup.
The unilateral administrative order is focused on Operable Units 2 through 5 of the proposed Superfund National Priorities List site -- the stretch of the river from Appleton to the mouth of Green Bay. EPA is taking this action in consultation with the U.S. Department of Justice and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The order requires action by the responsible companies in two phases. The first phase begins in December 2007 and requires the companies to perform preparation work for the cleanup to follow. This work includes procurement of equipment, establishment of staging facilities, landfill disposal arrangements, appropriate site surveys, and property access agreements.
The second phase includes dredging and in-river capping activities beginning in August 2009. By then, the responsible companies are expected to have completed all of the prep work specified in the first
phase. Details of this work were outlined in the 2007 cleanup record of decision amendment.