GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — More than two years after work finished, state officials are planning the steps to officially close the Fox River PCB cleanup project.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced completion of the 17-year, $1 billion project in 2020. The agency did not officially certify it as complete until last October, however.
EPA completion allows the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to begin the State Closure process. That involves issuing notices to people who live and work along the river. The DNR plans to send letters to about 1,400 riverfront property owners this month. The letters notify recipients of areas where toxic PCBs were capped, and advises them not to disturb those areas.
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyl compounds, were used in the production of carbonless copy paper from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The project to clean up 39 miles of the river from Little Lake Butte des Morts to Green Bay began in 2004. During the cleanup, 6.5 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment were removed, and engineered caps were installed on another 275 acres of riverbed.
The DNR, EPA, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, tribal nations and corporations oversaw the cleanup process. Georgia Pacific, Glatfelter Corporation and NCR Corporation are responsible for all costs. They are also responsible for monitoring caps.
Long-term testing has begun to measure PCBs in fish tissue, sediment and surface water. The entire river and bay will be tested every five years until cleanup goals are achieved that satisfy the DNR and EPA.
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