BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR
Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” has nothing on the ex-Douglas Haworth Plant.
Melching Demolition, which in December began razing the 150,300 square-foot ex-factory and two utility buildings above ground at 200 Blue Star Hwy., also dug up problems.
Approximately 120 feet of the plant’s north wall has been found to contain a high enough level of PCBs in its concrete masonry blocks to, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, possibly require hauling directly to a hazardous waste landfill at much greater cost to the city.
“The material evaluated came in at less than 50 parts per million,” city manager Rich Labombard told Douglas council Monday. “But that means it can’t be hauled to a regular construction and debris landfill,” as the city originally planned Nov. 1 on awarding Melching a $77,800 contract to clear the 7.18-acre site above ground. As such that wall remains standing.
Council Monday approved what consultant PM Environmental advised as a $39,200 intermediary step: having Melching demolish the remaining wall and consolidate them the suspect blocks on site wrapped in poly sheets and ringed by a fence to keep PCBs from spreading until an EPA work plan for their disposal be developed.
“Once the EPA approves a work plan, Melching will remobilize equipment and haul it to an approved landfill per the work plan’s terms,” LaBombard said.
Below-ground PCB cleanup and possible lot redevelopment is another, likely longer-range work in progress.
The city, twice turned down applications for $500,000 EPA Brownfield Redevelopment Grants to help with that cost, hopes obtaining more PCB data and starting cleanup above grade with show the agency its earnestness in abating nuisance conditions there.
PM Environmental 10-page application for this year’s grant cycle notes efforts to attract a site developer have been stalled due to known on-site contamination.
“With respect to the target property’s location and size,” it goes on, “its cleanup and redevelopment has the potential to attract additional ‘spin-off’ developments to the Blue Star corridor and achieve the city’s objectives to attract new developments that provide diverse housing options, new commercial mixed-use retail developments, create jobsand generate new tax revenues …
“By 1938,” the application goes on, the site “was developed as a fallow orchard with two small structures. By the 1940s, the property was redeveloped into its current configuration, which consists of two utility buildings and a 150,300-square-foot, single-story industrial building with approximately 15 truck bays facing Blue Star Highway.
“From the 1940s through mid-1970s the property’s extensive history included plating, buffing, zinc die casting, metal forming, stamping, phosphatizing and painting metal parts.
“Between 1976 and 2014, it was owned and occupied by Haworth Inc. (formerly Haworth Manufacturing), which used the facility to manufacture furniture. (Haworth was Douglas’s largest employer then.)
“Since 2014, the vacancy of the massive metal warehouse-like structure is one of the first sights that greet those traveling into the city from the south.
“After seven years of vacancy, the property is an eyesore as it remains unutilized, is not contributing to tax revenues and is an environmental risk. In addition to the overall cost associated with redeveloping the target property, the added expense of addressing the contamination has made redevelopment of the property financially prohibitive.
“To assist in leveraging funding opportunities for cleanup and redevelopment, the city acquired the target property in 2019. (Douglas paid Haworth $100,000, well below the site’s estimated value, but agreed to assume its cleanup responsibilities.)
“In 2015, Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments were conducted to review previous assessments and investigate contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) beneath the building, as well as evaluate pathways related to vapor intrusion.
“Sampling conducted in the former die cast pit area (eastern portion of the building) identified concentrations of PCBs above one part per million (ppm).
“Analytical data also suggests that the trichloroethene (TCE) contamination exceeding Michigan’s Residential and Nonresidential Drinking Water, Groundwater Surface Water Interface, and Groundwater Volatilization to Indoor Air cleanup criteria, has migrated approximately 1,600 feet north-northwest of the target property, offsite …
“A cleanup strategy was prepared that involves addressing the contamination from the source areas on the target property by first addressing the PCB contamination. This approach will assist in eliminating one of the concerns identified and as a result, in conjunction with other leveraged sources, to better position the property to be marketed for redevelopment.
“Before cleanup of the PCB cleanup activities takes place, it is necessary to demolish the building to access the PCB-contaminated areas and implement cleanup activities.
“Coupled with the community’s desire to remove an eyesore, city officials have begun the process of demolishing the building, which will involve removing the structure while leaving the floor and paved areas in place to serve as a cap to the contamination below.
“It is anticipated that asbestos abatement and demolition activities will commence in December 2021,” the application says.