The Albion-Sheridan Township Landfill sits near Albion, Michigan and accepted household trash and industrial waste starting in the early 1970s. The landfill took in roughly 6,000 cubic yards of metal plating sludges, plus paint wastes, thinners, oil and grease, casting sand and dust, and sand containing fly ash. It stopped accepting waste in 1981. Metal plating sludges remain buried on site.
Arsenic is the primary contaminant of concern, found in both groundwater and solid waste across the entire cleanup area. Iron and manganese are also present in groundwater and soil. EPA determined that arsenic poses an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment and selected it for cleanup action. Contaminants in soil and groundwater can cause harm through ingestion and direct contact.
Cleanup work began in earnest in the early 1990s. EPA started a combined remedial investigation and feasibility study in January 1992 and selected the final remedy in March 1995. That remedy includes landfill gas collection and treatment with offsite incineration, onsite consolidation of waste, an engineered cap, institutional controls to restrict land use, and groundwater monitoring through monitored natural attenuation. Remedial design ran through September 1997, construction began that same month, and physical construction finished in September 1999. Earlier, in 1990, cleanup crews removed about 46 drums from the landfill surface.
Human exposure is currently under control across the entire site. There are no unacceptable exposure pathways at this time. Contaminated groundwater migration has been stabilized, and EPA has found no unacceptable discharge to surface water. All cleanup goals have been achieved for current and reasonably anticipated future land uses. Zoning restrictions and other institutional controls limit land use to prevent exposure. The site reached sitewide ready for anticipated reuse status in May 2019 but has not yet been deleted from the National Priorities List. EPA completed its fifth five-year review in April 2022, confirming the remedy remains protective in the short term. A sixth five-year review is underway, with completion expected by April 2027.
Community members can learn more or share concerns during the ongoing sixth five-year review. Five-year reviews are formal assessments of whether the cleanup continues to protect human health and the environment, and the public can comment during this process. Key documents are available online and through an administrative record of 78 documents. Records can also be viewed in person at the Albion Public Library at 501 Superior St., Albion, Michigan. For general questions, contact Community Involvement Coordinator Francisco Arcaute. For technical questions about the cleanup, contact Remedial Project Manager Jeffrey Gore.
