EPA to test new cleanup method for former chemical plant

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to test a new method to remove soil contaminants in flood plains downstream from a former chemical plant in central Michigan. If effective, the process could save millions of dollars in ongoing cleanup efforts at the Velsicol Chemical plant site in St. Louis, Michigan, which has become one of the country's costliest Superfund sites. The Morning Sun reports the agency has directed $30,000 in grant money to study the possible use of activated charcoal as a way to remove concentrations of the chemical DDT in flood plain soil. DDT and other volatile organic chemicals were left behind at the site when the plant closed roughly 40 years ago. DDT seeped into the soil and was also found to have leaked into the nearby Pine River.