Velsicol Chemical Corp. Superfund Site

Investigating the history and hazards of the site

Kevin Hardtke

Overview and Site Information

The Velsicol Chemical Corp. superfund site in St. Louis, Michigan was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983 and its current status is that it is controlled but the clean-up process is still ongoing. From 1936 to 1978, Velsicol Chemical Corp. produced various chemicals in its plant located in St. Louis. Some of the chemicals used were leaked and contaminated the area surrounding the plant. Two of the most prominent and notable chemicals included polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and the pesticide DDT but other chemicals were also leaked. Around 3,800 people lived within one mile of the site while about 10,000 people lived within 3 miles. However, due to a mix up that left the food supply contaminated, as many as eight to nine million people were affected by this contamination.

Site Location and Size

The Velsicol Chemical Corp. superfund site is located at 500 N. Bankson St., St. Louis Michigan. Located in central Michigan, the site is 54 acres. Also, the contamination area includes a 1.5-mile stretch of Pine River which was heavily contaminated by the dangerous chemicals that were leaked.

The image above illustrates the three main sections of the contamination (OU-1, OU-2, and OU-3) as well as a less contaminated section of Pine River which is OU-4.

The image above is a photo of the original plant site now known as OU-1 and the surrounding water, land, and neighborhoods impacted by the chemical spills.

Regional Demographics:

The table below contains demographic statistics related to St. Louis, Michigan. there is a column for the current data (2020) and for the historical data (1980). While some historical data could not be found, the information in the table paints an interesting picture of how St. Louis has changed since in was listed as a superfund site. For example, since 1980 the population of St. Louis has risen by nearly 3,000 people and the population has become much more diverse with now just 65% white people compared to the 96% in 1980. Despite a lack of historical data the table below shows how St. Louis has changed and developed over the years.

Demographics

2020 Data: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/stlouiscitymichigan/BZA010221 

1980 Data:  https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980/1980censusofpopu80124uns_bw.pdf 

Population

7,010 people 309 Veterans 1.5% Foreign Born

4,107 People

Age

3% under 5 years old 9.8% under 18 years old 10.8% over 65 years old

31.2 Median Age

Sex

24.8% Female 75.2% Male

N/A

Race

65.2% White 27.4% Black 0.2% American Indian or Alaskan Native 0.5% Asian 6.1% Two or More Races 8.4% Hispanic or Latino

.2% Black 96% White .17% Native American 3.63% Other

Household Income

$47,662 Median House Hold income 13.5% in Poverty

N/A

Education

86.8% Highschool Graduation rate 9.1% Bachelor's Degree or Higher

N/A

Household Type

2.36 Persons Per House 44.6% Married Households 89.5% Households Have a Computer

1,465 Total Households 2.68 Persons Per House 65.8% of Men Married 55.6% of Women Married

The above chart contains a comparison of St. Louis, Michigan's current (2020) census data and the census data from when the site was listed as a national priority (1980)

Health Data:

The table below contains health data for Gratiot County Michigan and provides us with a little insight into the effect of the contaminations in the area. While a great deal of historical data could not be found, by using the current data we are able to make some connections between the current health issues faced by Gratiot County and the chemicals the people were exposed to.

For example, the number of cancer cases has increased significantly since 1980. This could be connected to the exposure to the chemical DDT. Another possible connection is the unusually high rate of arthritis in adults. This could be linked to exposure to PBB as joint pain is one of the most common side effects. Other potential correlations may be the high rate of asthma cases which would be linked to both contaminates ability to travel through the air well or the very high rate of increased blood pressure which is most likely due to exposure to DDT.

Despite the lack of historical data, the current data paints a sad and scary picture as to what the contamination has done to the population of Gratiot County.

Health Concerns

Current Health Data (2020): https://www.cdc.gov/places/index.html  https://www.cancer-rates.info/mi/ 

Past Health Data (1980):  https://www.cancer-rates.info/mi/ 

High Blood Pressure

34.3% of Adults Ages 18 and Older

N/A

Cancer

6.7% of Adults Ages 18 and Older 227 Cases

141 Cases

Heart Disease

6.3% of Adults Ages 18 and Older

N/A

Depression

23.2% of Adults Ages 18 and Older

N/A

High Cholesterol

30.1% of Adults Ages 18 and Older

N/A

Arthritis

20.7% of Adults Ages 18 and Older

N/A

Asthma

10.5% of Adults Ages 18 and older

N/A

Obesity

37.6% of Adults Ages 18 and Older

N/A

The above chart contains current and past health information for Gratiot County, the county in which St. Louis is.

Contamination History:

The above image is the PBB product that led to the contamination of Michigan farms.

Polybrominated Biphenyl (PBB) is a manufactured chemical that we used as fire retardants in synthetic fabrics and plastics used for various products. However, PBB's are no longer used in the U.S. When leaked, PBB's can be found in the air, water, soil, and animals. PBB's do not dissolve in water and bind strongly with soil. This decreases the mobility in the water and soil, but their mobility in the air is very high. PBB's harm the natural environment quite a bit and can cause numerous health concerns for humans. The air can become a very good carrier of PBB's leading to inhalation of the chemical. Also, because it does not dissolve in water, the chemicals can contaminate drinking water for both humans and animals. In addition, the soil can become quite bonded with the chemical causing plants and wild life to be contaminated with the chemical.

Through exposure to PBB's, human health is impacted in numerous ways such as nausea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, joint pain, fatigue and weakness. To learn more about PBB's and their impact visit the Michigan department of community health or the EPA's website (Linked Below). Also, view the video below to learn about a PBB contamination linked to Velsicol Chemical Corp.

Tainted Michigan: In the 1970's PBB poisoned thousands of people in Michigan

Michigan department of community health:

EPA:

Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) is a synthetic insecticide that was developed in the 1940's. It was originally created to combat insect borne illnesses such as malaria and typhus both in civilians and the military. Also, it became popular in house holds, farms, institutions, and gardens looking to control insect levels. However, in the 1950's and 60's, regulation of DDT use began due to mounting evidence that DDT could harm the envrionment and human health. In 1972 the EPA issued a cancelation because of these concerns and since then it has been determined that DDT has a correlation with human reproductive health. Also, it is now considered a suspected carcinogen that can cause various types of cancer.

DDT has proven to be very persistent in the environment and, because of this, it still poses a threat to human health and the environment. DDT has a large impact on the environment due to is persistence. The half life of DDT is 15 years in soil but is as long as 150 years in water. DDT also travels very well in the air causing health concerns for humans and animals. For additional information about DDT  Click here .

The Miraculous Poison - the History of DDT, an excerpt

To learn more about DDT and its history, uses, and effects, view the video to the left.

PBB and DDT are two of the most influential, impactful, and abundant sources of environmental harm and impact on St. Louis, Michigan and their effects are still felt today.

The above picture shows the insecticide DDT being sprayed at a beach to control the insect population

Although there were other sources of environmental injustice in St. Louis such as the Velsicol burn pit which polluted the air for years, DDT and PBB remain the highlight of this superfund sight as clean up of the soil and water continues to this day.

History of National Prioritization:

During the 1930's St. Louis, Michigan had a salt company that harvested and produced salt for a variety of uses. However, by the 1940's the company began full time chemical research. They then became known as the Michigan Chemical Corp. They operated producing the chemical DDT among other things until the 1960's when the chemical fell under great scrutiny. Following that the company changed names to the Velsicol Chemical Company which began producing PBB and cattle feed additives. However, due to a mix up between the two (See documentary found under the PBB section of contaminant information) the plant shut down in 1978. The chemical plant was left to sit until 1982 when it was demolished, surrounded by a wall, and capped off with a clay cap.

Although the Chemical company operated for less then 40 years, the impact it had on the environment and the people around it was massive. During the plants operations chemical were being dumped in the nearby Pine River and industrial waste was being burned in the plant burn pit. Not to mention the massive chemical mix up that led to millions consuming tainted meat and dairy products.

One of the most frustrating part of the whole situation is that, due to the company going out of business and dissolving, there was almost no one to hold accountable for the damages caused by the contamination and many of the original decision makers that caused the problems remain unpunished and unnamed. Furthermore a major reason that this superfund site is so bad is because the chemical plant operated in a time in which the government was near non-existent. In other words, the chemicals/ the plant itself were not regulated by the government so the plant operators could do what they wanted which is why the chemicals were not disposed of properly. To read more about the history of St. Louis, Michigan  click here .

Special Report: Pollution on the Pine River

The video on the right begins by providing a brief history of the site and leads into a description of the contamination, the clean up, and the terrible impacts that it has had on the people and the environment.

Remediation:

Cleaning up a superfund site as large and contaminated as the Velsicol plant site is no easy task. The progress at the site is still on going with the clean up process costing millions and taking a long time. The process started in 1998 when the EPA funded a sediment clean up in the Pine River. However, studies in the early 2000's reviled that the wall built around the plant site was failing to keep contaminants out of the water. This led to a plan to clean up the original plant site and the surrounding soil. Now that the clean up has been on going for many years, good progress has been made but there is still a long way to go.

Use the swipe feature above to view the expected look of a contaminate-containing slurry wall (left) and the actual slurry wall at the Velsicol plant (right)

The first cleanup efforts that happened, as mentioned before, was the EPA's attempt to clean the Pine River which started in 1998 and lasted until 2006. This costed $100 million and involved removing over 670,000 cubic yards of DDT contaminated sediment. After this clean up effort, they made the discovery that the wall was not keeping contaminants out of the river. However, their efforts we not for nothing as DDT levels in the fish population has decreased by 98%.

Due to this discovery, the EPA launched an investigation to see why the wall was not keeping the chemicals out of the water. They then discovered that both the soil and the ground water were heavily contaminated. This lead to a plan being developed and set into action in 2006 which involved a clean up of the main plant site. During this clean up they removed over 50,000 tons of contaminated soil.

These kinds of efforts have continued since 2006 along with lots of testing and planning for the future. In fact, in 2022 the newest round of soil removal started with a planed 100,000 tons of soil to be moved. There is a lot of soil that has to be moved in order to clean up this site and it is going to take a long time. Not only does the original site need to be cleaned but the sediment in the water surrounding the plant and the flood plains of the water all need to be cleaned.

The above Images show some of the clean-up efforts as well as future clean-up plans.

Other clean up efforts include an on-site thermal treatment system (view video below) that was used to removed thousands of pounds of contaminants from the soil. Also, thermal treatment to aid in removing the burned debris from the burn pit has been used to clean that section of the site. Further more, construction of a new water supply for the St. Louis drinking water began in 2014 to provide safe drinking water to the citizens of St. Louis.

EPA Region 5 is using innovative technology to heat up the ground and capture contaminants. Learn more about how the process works at our website. https://go.usa.gov/xpxvF Interactive Site Data located here: https://cutt.ly/RevRFik Fore more information email: russell.diane@epa.gov

As clean up continues, thousands of pounds of soil still have to be moved, cleaned, and disposed of to ensure the safety of the people and the environment. Not to mention all of the testing that must be done to ensure that the water, soil, air, and wild life is safe and contaminant free. Unfortunately, cleaning up a mess of this magnitude is not easily achieved and can take decades to complete. But the good news for this site is that the final remediation steps are expected to be finished in late 2026. This would be 28 years after the initial clean up started. Although there is still a lot of work and testing to do, the end of this terrible story seems to be nearing.

In the News:

Coverage of this superfund site is two fold. On one hand you have world wide coverage of the PBB mix up that contaminated millions of consumers meat and dairy products. On the other hand you have the actual water, soil, and air contamination that got further worldwide coverage.

For many, the first time they heard of St. Louis, Michigan or Velsicol Chemical Corp. was when Michigan made global headline for the mix up with PBB and cattle feed that left millions exposed to the dangerous chemical. As you could imagine, the public was afraid and angry at the time of this mix up and the new articles often talked about that controversy. View the images below to see some of the articles being published at the time.

The image gallery above shows some of the news articles that were published regarding the PBB incident.

However, the news coverage did not stop with the PBB incident and St. Louis, Michigan has continuously found itself in state, national, and even global news. While local news sources still cover the site and its progress quite often, the global coverage has gone away. However, given the history of Velsicol and the area they affected, this superfund site got a lot of attention. Below are some linked news videos and reports about the superfund site that have been issued over the years.

Although there are hundreds, if not thousands, of news articles and videos to choose from, the five that I linked above are what I believe to be the most influential, important, and moving articles I could find. The reason I wanted to include these are because these undoubtedly played a large role in the justice that St. Louis has begun to receive. Without this kind of national and even global attention, the progress and recognition that this superfund site has received may not be a substantial as it has been.

Who Was Harmed?:

The answer to the question "who was harmed" is quite unique in this case. While people closer to the Velsicol plant undoubtedly suffered more than most, millions of people were affected by Velsicol's negligence. Because of this, I will talk about who carried the biggest burden due to Velsicol's wrongdoings. However, it is important that we remember more than just St. Louis residents were affected.

Overall, it is clear that the people who lived closest to the site suffered the most because they were forced to live near or on the contaminated soil, drink the unsafe water, and breath the toxic air. However, you might wonder why they wouldn't move away from all the toxic substances they were being subjected to. This is because St. Louis is home to an under represented community. Many people in St. Louis live below the poverty line and even more are considered low income. Because of this, many people could not simply get up and move to escape the dangerous environment they lived in.

The map above provides an interactive demonstration of the various sections of the superfund site and the surrounding city/ housing that was impacted by the pollution.

These people, the under represented community of St. Louis, were the people most closely impacted by the contamination that took place because they could not and still cannot get away from the dangers. If they work in the city, they are by the contamination at almost all moments of the day because, when they are home they are exposed to the water and air, when they go outside they're exposed to the soil and air, and when they go to work it is no different. However, I am not the best person to hear this story from. I recommend listing to, reading, and exploring the links below to hear from the people that were directly impacted by the contamination.

View the link below to hear testimony from a St. Louis native.

Visit the link below to view a meeting of the Pine River Superfund Citizen Task Force.

Although the video below is linked in another place within this story map, there is a lot of interesting stories from people involved in the superfund site within this video.

Achieving Justice:

With so many people wronged by the actions of Velsicol Chemical Corp. wanting justice is an expected reaction. However, after spending time reading, watching, and researching the situation, it seems like the level of justice needed to balance out with the wrongs is impossible to achieve. With near no one to hold accountable and endless amounts of irreparable damage already done, we must settle for subpar justice.

The under represented community of St. Louis, Michigan may never achieve full justice but this does not mean that they haven't got any. The funding from the EPA and other environmental agencies has helped provide the community with some relief. Whether that be from the long and expensive clean up process or from the new and safe water supply, there has been a number of justice moments.

While a lot of justice is out of reach for this community, one way they could achieve justice for themselves and for the future is by turning the whole situation/ site into an informational/ learning site. A place where new generations can learn about the horrors that took place and the suffering that ensued. This could be one of the best ways to avoid anything like this happening in the future and a great way for the citizens of St. Louis, Michigan to achieve the justice they deserve.

Citations:

1980 census of population. characteristics of the population ... (n.d.-a).  https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980/1980censusofpopu80124uns_bw.pdf 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, November 15). Places: Local data for Better Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  https://www.cdc.gov/places/index.html 

DDT - national pesticide information center. (n.d.-b).  http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf 

Environmental Protection Agency. (2017b, October 20). Velsicol Chemical Corp. (Michigan) site profile. EPA.  https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.schedule&id=0502194 

Technical fact sheet – polybrominated biphenyls (pbbs). (n.d.-f).  https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-12/documents/ffrro_factsheet_pbb_11-16-17_508.pdf   

U.S. Census Bureau quickfacts: St. Louis City, Michigan. (n.d.-d).  https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/stlouiscitymichigan/BZA010221   

YouTube. (2013, September 17). The miraculous poison - the history of DDT, an excerpt. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEBXnO_HEkg 

YouTube. (2023, May 9). Special report: Pollution on the Pine River. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j-idey2QEg 

The image above illustrates the three main sections of the contamination (OU-1, OU-2, and OU-3) as well as a less contaminated section of Pine River which is OU-4.

The image above is a photo of the original plant site now known as OU-1 and the surrounding water, land, and neighborhoods impacted by the chemical spills.

The above image is the PBB product that led to the contamination of Michigan farms.

The above picture shows the insecticide DDT being sprayed at a beach to control the insect population

Use the swipe feature above to view the expected look of a contaminate-containing slurry wall (left) and the actual slurry wall at the Velsicol plant (right)