COLLAPSED SHORELINE
Shoreline collapse prompted testing amid concerns of uranium, toxic water
Environmental experts test for contamination
Soil tests conducted Friday by Michigan environmental regulators at the site of the former Revere Copper property where a shoreline collapsed into the Detroit River showed no radiation concerns, despite the property’s manufacturing history involving uranium.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) measured roughly 1,000 data points on the property. The results showed radiation levels below naturally occurring radiation levels, which are typically between five and eight microroentgen per hour (Ur/hr), the agency said.
“This affirms to us the level of radiation from the legacy site backs up what was found (previously) — that no radiological material has been swept into the river as part of this incident,” said Nick Assendelft, spokesman for EGLE.
“A number of locations were measured as (EGLE officials) walked the property. They even stuck the Geiger counter and collected soil in the crevices where the soil is washing into the river, so the results cannot be disputed in any way.”
Soil at the site was ripped open and exposed to the water during the night of Nov. 27 when the shoreline collapsed and crumbled into the river under the weight of tons of limestone-base gravel being stored by Detroit Bulk Storage, which has leased the property since July.
The incident triggered environmental concerns because the riverfront site — about a kilometre downriver from the Ambassador Bridge — has a lengthy history dating back to the 1940s when Revere Copper produced uranium rods used in the development of the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project.
EGLE did not test the property’s soil for any other toxic chemicals on Friday, but did take numerous water samples in the area. These samples are going to be studied for a wide variety of chemicals, said Assendelft.
The samples are being examined at EGLE’S lab in Lansing, Mich., and unlikely to be known for a few weeks, he said.
EGLE officials were among about 20 officials visiting the Detroit Bulk Storage site starting early Friday. Also attending were officials from U.S. EPA, the City of Detroit, the city’s health department, Homeland Security and the FBI.
“They were looking at what happened, talked to the manager of the company, got his thoughts on what happened and the timeline,” Assendelft said. “We also talked ... about his plans on remediation. They answered our questions, so based on that interaction they are being co-operative.
“Once we see (lab) results from the river sampling, that will steer us on what direction we next need to go.”
The Great Lakes Water Authority has water intakes only a few kilometres downriver from the site, providing drinking water for millions of residents across Detroit and a handful of suburbs in the downriver area.
The agency released a statement Friday, assuring it is keeping a close watch on potential troubles.
The authority’s primary water intake is actually located on the Canadian side of the border in proximity to the west side of Fighting Island.
“Because of this, GLWA does not believe there is any danger of this incident impacting water quality,” the agency said.
“GLWA is in the process of conducting testing with an independent, third-party laboratory for radionuclides and is requesting an expedited turnaround on these results. The authority will share these results as soon as they are available.”
On the Canadian side, the closest water intake lines that may be affected by the spill are quite a distance away in Amherstburg.
Perhaps of equal concern as potential radiation issues has been the gravel spill possibly causing a disturbance on the river’s bottom of an array of toxic chemicals, trapped for decades in sediment in the heavily industrial area.
The sediment is generally considered safe if left undisturbed. But the fact tons of aggregate just fell off the shore into the water may have dispersed the sediment in many directions with some of it possibly free-flowing within the fast-moving waterway.
“In that area you have sediment that is very highly contaminated,” said Ken Drouillard, a professor at the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research in Windsor who has mapped and studied the contents of the river’s sediments for over 20 years.
“You have high levels of PAHS (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), PCBS, mercury and metals including lead, cadmium and nickel.”
Because the Detroit River is so fast moving, the toxic sediments over time get pushed against the shoreline on both the Canadian and U.S. side and never move unless disturbed, he said.
“In our surveys, what we are seeing is a product of the last 100 years of industrialization,” Drouillard said.
“The sediments get trapped in the shore area and reside there for an incredibly long time.”
Upon learning of the shoreline collapse, Drouillard said there is a “moderate urgency” for environmental regulators to get a handle on exactly what toxic chemicals have potentially been shifted due to the gravel collapse.
“This would have caused a very large disturbance of sediment with these chemicals redistributed in the water and carried downstream,” he said.
“At the drinking water intake you should be able to remove these particles, but you have reclaimed fish spawning reefs, wildlife refuges, wetlands and marshlands downstream which all will be affected by this event.”
Alan Hayner, who worked as an environmental engineer for the City of Detroit for a decade before retiring in 2005, detailed his extensive knowledge Friday of the former Revere Copper property and potential environmental safety risks.
“I probably know more about that site than anybody you are going to talk to,” he said on Friday.
It was Hayner’s responsibility over several years to get the site cleaned up — since it was under city ownership at the time — to prepare for being put on the market for redevelopment.
Officials from several agencies were involved, including the state and EPA, as the site was among four across Detroit with potential radiation or other serious contamination issues on a high-priority list to be addressed, he said.
“We had meetings and came up with a plan on what needed to be remediated for economic development,” said Hayner, who said at the peak, around 2002, he was on site two or three times a week.
Work was progressing on cleaning the site. Some testing was done under Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, but things ground to a halt after Kwame Kilpatrick took over as mayor, he said.
Hayner retired and the property was sold to a private owner soon after.
Based on his knowledge from that period, Hayner said he no concerns about radiation: “If it was there, I would tell you.”
But seeing photos of the soil opened up into the river does trigger concerns about PCBS, which he said are buried on the property.
“As we were trying to sell the property we had to tell anybody interested that we left PCBS at eight feet,” he said. “They were not a concern if everything was left the way it was. Now, I would be concerned.”