The Cannelton Industries site covers 70 acres in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, where The Northwestern Leather Company operated a tannery from 1900 to 1958. Processing animal hides left soil, sediment, groundwater, and surface water contaminated with arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The St. Mary's River and nearby Tannery Bay received the heaviest impact. The site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1990, which triggers formal federal cleanup under the Superfund program.
Cleanup is organized under one operable unit called Tannery Waste. A remedy was first selected in 1992 and significantly expanded in 1996 to include offsite disposal, dewatering, drainage and erosion control, and revegetation. Construction finished in 1999 and included excavating contaminated soil and sending it to offsite landfills, treating water, and monitoring groundwater and surface water. Between 2006 and 2007, crews dredged more than 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from Tannery Bay and nearby wetlands, removing about one million pounds of chromium and 70 pounds of mercury. Land-use restrictions are now in place across the site.
EPA assessments confirm that human exposure is currently under control across the entire site, with no unacceptable exposure pathways remaining. Contaminated groundwater is stabilized and is not discharging to surface water at unacceptable levels. Physical construction is complete and all cleanup goals have been met for current and anticipated future land uses. The site achieved a status of sitewide ready for anticipated reuse in 2013. A fifth five-year review, which checks that the remedy continues to protect people and the environment, was expected to be completed by September 12, 2024. The site has not yet been deleted from the NPL.
Sampling in 2014 still detected mercury in the southwest corner of Tannery Bay and one adjacent wetland, as well as chromium in Tannery Bay sediment. EPA is reviewing monitoring requirements and cleanup goals for those areas, and Tannery Bay sediment, surface water, and adjacent wetlands will be monitored regularly until contaminants fall below cleanup goals.
Community members can review public records at the Bayliss Public Library at 541 Library Drive in Sault Ste. Marie. Anyone with questions or observations about site conditions can contact the EPA Community Involvement Coordinators or the Remedial Project Manager.
