EPA Announces Start of Cleanup at the Velsicol Burn Pit Superfund Site in St. Louis, Michigan

EPA Announces Start of Cleanup at the Velsicol Burn Pit Superfund Site in St. Louis, Michigan

Funding from President Biden's Investing in America Agenda is kickstarting the cleanup

April 30, 2024

CHICAGO (April 30, 2024) - Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the start of cleanup at the Velsicol Burn Pit Superfund site, in St. Louis, Michigan. Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is kickstarting this innovative cleanup, in which an in-place thermal treatment system will remove contamination from 1.4 acres of soil.

"Thanks to the resources provided by the Biden-Harris Administration, EPA can clean up these sites much faster than we otherwise could," Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore said. "For too long the residents of St. Louis have had to live with this contamination in their community."

This site is one of many across the country to receive funding from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which invested $3.5 billion in environmental remediation at Superfund sites. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has enabled these cleanup activities to move forward.

The in-place thermal treatment system uses heaters in the contaminated ground to warm soil and groundwater to remove contaminants more easily. First, this system allows heavier oil-like liquid contaminants to be extracted and transported off-site for proper disposal. The heaters also vaporize contaminants in the groundwater into gases. This steam will then be transported-via piping along a newly constructed temporary pontoon bridge across the Pine River-to the vapor treatment system located at the sister Velsicol Superfund site, also known as the Former Plant site. The system is expected to operate for one year and will then be deconstructed when cleanup is complete. Reuse of the treatment system, along with the previously established utility connection, enables a savings of $2 million in construction costs.

The historic investment made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law strengthens every part of the Superfund program, making a dramatic difference in EPA's ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment. In addition to funding cleanup construction work, the investment is enabling EPA to increase funding and accelerate essential work needed to prepare sites for construction and to ensure communities are meaningfully involved in the cleanup process. In 2023, EPA continued to fund Superfund pre-construction activities such as remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial designs, and community involvement at double pre-Bipartisan Infrastructure Law levels.

To learn more, visit EPA's Burn Pit website.