Cliffs-Dow site still contaminated

Marquette City Commissioners heard an update on the Cliffs–Dow project at their meeting Monday night.

Richard Baron, a Special Counsel to the city, gave the presentation on the old wood distillation site.  He said that the site is still contaminated, and ground water testing is done seasonally to monitor changes.  Testing is done at various wells on the property.

Contaminants on the site include tar and chemicals similar to gasoline.  Monitoring has shown that levels have gone down in both interior wells and wells closer to the Lake Superior shoreline.

Baron said that while there have been decreases of chemicals in the ground water, it is hard to tell when the site will be chemical free.

The recommendation to the commission was to continue to monitor wells on site, and then in the future the city can decide what to do with the property once levels go down.