Investigation Cleanup Community Engagement Tar Lake Site 2018 Revised Community Involvement Plan Redevelopment Tranquil, rural Mancelona Township. i INTRODUCTION 1 Describes the purpose of this CIP and presents EPA’s community outreach objectives. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT GOALS AND ACTIVITIES 5 Highlights EPA’s goals, activities and timeline for conducting site-specific activities to keep residents and local officials informed and involved. THE COMMUNITY 11 Shares information about the composition of the Mancelona Township, Antrim County, the village of Mancelona and Custer Township and the history of community involvement with the site. THE SITE 17 Presents a description and history of activities at the site. COMMUNITY CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS 25 Summarizes what community members are concerned about, the questions they asked and what they told EPA. APPENDICES Appendix A – Glossary – Initials – Acronyms: Lists the definition of key words, initials and acronyms (words are in bold throughout the document). Appendix B - Community Resources: Identifies places where community members can find more information about the site and possible meeting locations. Appendix C – List of Contacts: Provides a list of federal, state, and local agencies and interested groups. Appendix D – Community Engagement and the Superfund Process: Gives an overview of the step-by-step process the EPA follows to determine the best way to clean up a contaminated site and opportunities for community involvement throughout the process. Appendix E – Fact Sheets: Includes fact sheets on contaminants of concern and site-related fact sheets. Appendix F – Community Interview Questions: A list of questions asked during community interviews. Appendix G – Environmental Justice and EPA’s commitment to the affected communities. 43 ii iii INTRODUCTION This CIP describes EPA’s plan for addressing concerns and keeping residents informed and involved in activities at the site. We will use this document as Describes the purpose of this CIP and presents EPA’s community a guide to involve and communicate with residents, businesses and the local outreach objectives. governments in Mancelona and Custer Townships, the village of Mancelona and Antrim County. If you are interested in submitting comments or have The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prepared this revised Community questions or suggestions concerning this CIP, please contact: Involvement Plan, or CIP, to inform, engage and support the community near the Tar Lake Superfund site located in Mancelona Township, Michigan. Heriberto León Our community involvement effort is committed to promoting effective and Community Involvement Coordinator The role of the CIC is to meaningful communication between the public and the Agency. We always EPA Region 5 make sure the community want to make sure the community’s current concerns and information needs 312-886-6163 is meaningfully engaged are considered. When the public is involved it results in a better outcome for [email protected] in site activities. everyone. What is a CIP? In 1985, EPA developed a Community Relations Plan, the previous term for a Community Involvement Plan, for the site. Another CIP was also completed in The CIP is a “living” document that will evolve 1998. Those plans noted that primary concerns expressed by those interviewed as activities at the site continue and input is included the loss of property values and poor-quality, bad-tasting water; the received from the community. The CIP identifies inconvenience of dealing with contaminated groundwater; concern that the the community’s issues, needs, and concerns, cleanup would stir up the contamination and cause it to move; inadequate as well as specific activities, outreach products, follow-up with homeowners with sampling results; the lack of definition of and programs EPA will use to address the the contamination boundaries; potential effects on redevelopment of the site; community’s concerns. It is a flexible guide for and the cost of the investigation and cleanup. EPA prepared this revised CIP EPA’s communications with community residents, primarily to support current and future activities related to the Agency’s five-year businesses, and organizations. reviews of the Tar Lake site cleanup (see Page 3 for an explanation of the five- year review process). We used several information sources to develop this plan, including research, discussions with community members, information gathered at meetings and community interviews. We conducted interviews with 21 residents and local officials interested in the site activities and cleanup efforts from June 5-8, 2018. Most of the people we interviewed had lived and worked in the area for a few decades or more, several having lived in Mancelona all their lives. (Words in bold are defined in Appendix A.) EPA met with state officials to discuss the Tar Lake site. 1 Brief Site Overview soil excavation and an expansion of the groundwater treatment system was required. This new cleanup is in the design phase. Operation and maintenance The 200-acre Tar Lake site is in Mancelona Township, Michigan. From activities for existing parts of the remedy are ongoing and will continue after 1882 to 1945, an iron works facility operated on site. Disposal of tar-waste the next phase of cleanup. More information about the site can be found on contaminated soil and groundwater with hazardous chemicals. Cleanup Pages 17 - 23. of the site included excavation and disposal of tar and contaminated soils, groundwater extraction and treatment, and institutional controls. As the remedy was put in place, EPA removed two areas of the site from the Superfund Program’s National Priorities List, or NPL. In 2005 and 2012, EPA deleted Tar Lake Site Location Map 45 acres and 75 acres respectively. In 2013, EPA determined that additional Wells like the one above installed throughout the Tar Lake site monitor groundwater contamination. 2 Community Engagement is Essential to the Success Five-year review process of Superfund This site is in the final stage of cleanup process, which involves review of the remedy every five years. The Superfund law requires Ongoing input and involvement by the community is essential to our efforts to regular checkups of sites that have been cleaned up – with waste provide effective community engagement. We have learned that its decision- managed on-site – to make sure the cleanup continues to protect making ability is enhanced by actively seeking input and information from people and the environment. This is called the five-year review the community. Community members need to be involved in all phases of the process. Therefore, most of the community input opportunities cleanup, including the five-year review phase, so that the site remains protective of people and the environment. will center around providing comments on the five-year reviews. However, we are committed to helping the community understand the cleanup that was done and the additional Residents, business owners and local government officials may be able to work that will be done by providing information as needed provide valuable information about a site and the effectiveness of a cleanup. through the production of fact sheets, holding meetings, making Information can help identify any problems associated with the cleanup, where information available on the Web, etc. While conducting the contamination might remain and how people may still be exposed to the contamination. community interviews to develop this plan, we learned the scope of the questions people had about the site. EPA has developed a partnership with the Michigan Department of Environmental Residents and officials of Quality to address community questions and concerns. See Page Mancelona and Custer Townships, 30 of this CIP for a list of the questions asked by area residents. the village of Mancelona and Antrim County gave valuable information to the EPA about their community. They told us about past activities at the site and explained their concerns about the quality (taste and smell) of the “Community engagement allows the Agency to area groundwater; redevelopment interact with communities using various tools and of the property, potential odors resources. It empowers communities to be partners and fumes being released during the additional cleanup, the stigma in decisions that affect cleanups and ultimately the of having a Superfund site in the environmental quality of their lives.” township, and the messaging being used by the Agency. These Heriberto León and other concerns are explained in the Community Concerns and EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Questions section. Local historian Herb Tipton explained the history of Mancelona and Antrim Iron Works to EPA. 3 Mancelona Township building. 4 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT GOALS AND ACTIVITIES Highlights EPA’s goals, activities and timeline for conducting site-specific activities to keep residents and local officials informed and involved. When establishing the objectives for a site-specific community involvement program, we consider several factors, including federal requirements and EPA policy that assess the nature and extent of known or perceived site contaminants and known community concerns and requests. To be effective, our community involvement program is designed to meet the community’s need to know, give information in a timely manner and accommodate the community’s interests and its willingness to participate. We must also share information in language the public can understand.