Cleanup and Natural Resources Improvement Agreement Reached at Ashland Lakefront Superfund Site in Wisconsin

WASHINGTON – Northern States Power Co. will begin cleanup of the Ashland/Northern States Power Lakefront Superfund Site in Northwestern Wisconsin under a settlement the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.  The 40-acre site is located on the shore of Chequamegon Bay in Lake Superior and was used for various industrial purposes for more than a century, resulting in the release of volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, and semivolatile organic compounds, such as naphthalene, at the site.

 Under the agreement, filed today with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., Northern States Power will design, construct and implement the cleanup plan for the on-land portion of the site.  The on-land cleanup is expected to cost approximately $40 million.  The United States will also require additional cleanup of sediments in Chequamegon Bay, and expects that Northern States Power and any other responsible parties will perform the rest of the cleanup. That work is not part of the agreement filed with the Court today.

 Today’s agreement also requires Northern States Power to transfer approximately 990 acres of land along the Iron River to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and 400 acres within the reservation of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians to the Bad River tribe.  These parcels, worth about $1.9 million, will be preserved by the state and the Bad River tribe to enhance natural resources in the area that have been harmed by pollution from the site, such as fisheries in Chequamegon Bay and its rivers.  In addition, the state of Wisconsin will transfer 114 acres of land to the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.  That land will also be managed to preserve natural resources.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also serve as trustees for natural resources in the area and joined the settlement on behalf of the United States.

“This agreement will begin the long-awaited cleanup of contamination at the Ashland Lakefront site,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The agreement will result in the preservation of land in the Chequamegon Bay watershed, including tribal lands, to conserve and enhance natural resources and aquatic habitat that have been harmed by more than a century of pollution at the site.”

 “Chequamegon Bay and Lake Superior will be better protected as a result of this agreement,” said EPA Region 5 Regional Administrator Susan Hedman.  “Removing the most highly contaminated soil from the site and controlling the flow of contaminated groundwater will prevent polluted water from entering the bay and harming fisheries.”

 For more than a century, the Ashland site has been home to various industrial uses, including sawmills, railroads, and a city wastewater treatment plant.  The primary source of pollution at the site was the manufactured gas plant operated by Northern States Power’s predecessor company between 1885 and 1947.  Pollution from the manufactured gas plant contaminated both the on-land portion of the site and the sediment in the bay.

 The on-land cleanup will include removal of source material and impacted soil in Kreher Park and the adjacent bluff area and recovery wells designed to remove pollution from the Copper Falls aquifer.  The work Northern States Power will perform under this agreement is expected to take approximately two to three years.

 EPA will oversee the work to ensure that it follows the cleanup plan and complies with the agreement signed by the parties.  The state of Wisconsin will support EPA in overseeing the work.

 The proposed consent decree will be subject to public comment for 30 days prior to entry in federal court.   The consent decree will be available at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

Florida Wildlife expedition makes stop at National Guard training post

By Air National Guard Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa

Florida National Guard

STARKE, Fla. (4/10/12) – A thousand-mile, 100-day expedition stopped at the National Guard's training post in North Florida recently, emphasizing the importance of the military site as a wildlife habitat.

Four trekkers from the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition visited Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, April 8 to 9, where they met with members of the Florida National Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to discuss the natural habitats at the post.

The expedition, which began Jan. 17, seeks to raise awareness for wildlife corridors in Florida by hiking, biking and paddling through natural lands from the Everglades to the Georgia border.

The team visiting Camp Blanding included a biologist, a conservationist, a photographer, and a videographer.

According to expedition biologist Joe Guthrie, the 72,000-acre military post is an important stopping point for wildlife along the greenway between the Ocala and Osceola National Forests.

"Camp Blanding is a major hub in the corridor that the State and (FWC) are trying to understand – especially when it comes to the Black Bear," Guthrie said.

Guthrie and the team met with Land Component Commander Army Brig. Gen. Richard Gallant, FWC Executive Director Nick Wiley, and other officials during their visit to Camp Blanding.

Conversation during the meeting included the increasing population of bears on the post, the importance of buffer zones between the post and nearby civilian homes, and the amount of military training in the area.

"This is tremendously important to Camp Blanding," Gallant said of the meeting with the expedition on April 9. "This helps us protect the training lands that we have by enhancing our relationships with FWC and other organizations, and improve the training opportunities for those visiting Camp Blanding."

FWC Executive Director Wiley agreed that the expedition's stop would highlight Camp Blanding's place in the wildlife corridor in north-central Florida.

"Camp Blanding is a great example of why these lands are so important to fish and wildlife in Florida," Wiley said. "And that is really a big emphasis of their expedition across the state: to highlight the importance of these lands and how they're linked together.

 "Our fish and wildlife need linkages, they need to be connected," he said. "…without habitat linkages and corridors like this, Florida wouldn't be Florida. It wouldn't be special. One of the things that we hold dear as Floridians is our fish and wildlife."

Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is located near Starke, Fla. The training site is home to both Florida Army and Air National Guard units, and is an ideal training area for military units because of its varied topography-planted pine plantations, swamps, oak hammocks, desert-like terrain-with minimal environmental restrictions. It is also home to many native wildlife species.