WYANDOTTE, Mich. – What’s being described as a “comprehensive plan” to address groundwater contamination at BASF’s site along the Detroit River in Wyandotte has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency announced Monday.
The multinational chemical producer’s North Works site occupies around 230 acres along the river and is currently being used to manufacture chemicals and other products.
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Prior investigations by the EPA and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) have identified several contaminants in the groundwater surrounding the site, which has been used for industrial operations since the 1800s.
Contaminants identified at the site over the years include heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, and PFAS — otherwise known as “forever chemicals.”
The latest remediation plan approved by the EPA includes a “multi-component system to prevent contaminated groundwater flow,” with construction expected to begin in early 2027.
More specifically, the project will entail the construction of perimeter barriers to limit groundwater movement across the site boundary and into the river; a groundwater collection and extraction system to capture contaminated groundwater; and an on-site water treatment facility.
Local residents and community organizations like Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, For Love of Water, and Detroit Riverkeeper have criticized the company’s long-standing pollution for decades, as well as the state’s failure to prevent continued contamination at the site — which borders the Downriver area below Ecorse Creek and sits immediately upstream from Wyandotte’s drinking water intake.
“We’re really concerned that people don’t know what’s happening right in their backyard,” Raquel Garcia, executive director of Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, told Local 4 in 2024. “We see little kids fishing, we see them swimming, we see people enjoying the river and on jet skis, and I think people have a right to know the chemicals that are in the water.”
In a statement sent to Local 4 on Tuesday afternoon, BASF officials called the EPA’s latest’s approval “an important milestone.”
“This approval enables advancement of long-term solutions to address groundwater impacts from historical industrial operations, including those of prior owners at the Wyandotte North Works site,” the statement read. “...BASF remains committed to fulfilling its obligations under the Consent Decree and implementing measures designed to protect human health, safety, and the environment.”
The latest remediation plan will be rolled out in phases, with the project expected to be completed in 2029.
For more information about the site and copies of the phased design plans for the groundwater remedy, visit EPA’s website.