MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. - The Zephyr Oil Refinery is long gone. But it's believed when the company was operating in Muskegon Township, it spilled 700,000 gallons of oil. Much of the contaminants including diesel fuel ended up in wetlands adjacent to the Muskegon River.
Tuesday, Oct. 16 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the completion of the $16 million sediment cleanup at the former Zephyr property on Holton Road.
During the cleanup, approximately 50,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment were excavated from wetlands and a former fire suppression ditch.
Some grading, seeding and planting are taking place in an effort to restore wildlife habitat.
"It's fantastic to get it out of the ground and get it away from where the wildlife live and where people want to recreate," says Sara Pearson, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Work was funded through a cost-sharing partnership with the state of Michigan under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
"We try to celebrate each success as it happens and not wait till the end so people understand what progress looks like," says Jon Allan, Director at Michigan's Office of the Great Lakes.
The property's industrial history is similar to other sites in Muskegon County and around the Great Lakes. Polluted sites in many cases right along rivers and lakes.
"Slowly surely steadily there's getting to be fewer of them," says Christopher Korleski, Director of the E.P.A.'s Great Lakes National Program Office.
Someday the work done at the former refinery could help remove Muskegon Lake from the United States EPA's Areas of Concern list.
"It's so hard to get it done, so many people have to do so much," says Korleski. "Everything from access agreements, to the contracts, design and planning, it's just a tremendous amount of human resources, effort and money, you have to celebrate."
Work continues at the upland portion of the Zephyr property where a separate project seeks to remove and clean contaminated groundwater before returning it back to the ground and eventually the river.
Total cleanup at the property will take another five to ten years.
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