Novaco Industries is a former tool-and-die manufacturing and repair facility in Temperance, Michigan. It became a Superfund site after a tank of chromic acid used for plating operations leaked in June 1979, spilling an unknown quantity onto the ground and contaminating several nearby drinking water wells. Those wells were replaced as an early response. The site has since been removed from the National Priorities List, meaning cleanup goals have been met.
Chromium is the contaminant of concern at the site. It was found in groundwater within the area designated as Operable Unit 01. EPA determined that chromium posed an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment and selected it for cleanup action.
Cleanup work began in 1983. A remedial investigation and feasibility study ran from September 1983 through June 1986, when the first cleanup plan was chosen. That plan included monitoring, precipitation, groundwater extraction through vertical wells, electrokinetics, filtration, ion exchange, and surface water discharge. A revised plan issued in September 1991 shifted the approach to monitored natural attenuation and no further action. Construction under the revised plan ran from April 1992 through September 1992. A five-year groundwater monitoring period began in 1993 and ended with a final sampling event in August 1997. Results showed chromium levels had fallen below levels of concern. EPA approved a No Further Action determination and removed the site from the National Priorities List in July 1998. Operation and maintenance activities continued through December 1997, and the site achieved sitewide ready for anticipated reuse status in June 2007.
Human exposure at the site has been determined to be under control. All cleanup goals affecting current and reasonably anticipated future land uses have been met, required land-use controls are in place, and no unacceptable risks remain. As of December 2024, one business operates on the property and employs four people. Post-remediation monitoring of chromium continues under EPA oversight.
Community members with questions about the site can contact the EPA's Remedial Project Manager.
