WPSC Stevens Point MGP Site

Site Information

Stevens Point, WI (Portage County)
EPA ID# WIN000509983
This site is not on the NPL; it is a Superfund Alternative Site (SAS)

SAS Fact Sheet

CERCLIS listing
Alias(es): N/A
Photos

Contact Information

Community Involvement Coordinator
Susan Pastor (pastor.susan@epa.gov)
312-353-1325 or 800-621-8431, ext. 31325

Remedial Project Manager
Leslie Patterson
(patterson.leslie@epa.gov)
312-886-4904 or 800-621-8431, ext. 64904

Repositories

(where to view written records)

Portage County Public Library
Charles M. White Library Building
1001 Main St.
Stevens Point, WI

Links

Links for Wisconsin former MGPs

Background

The Wisconsin Public Service Corp. site is located in Stevens Point, Wis. Currently, the 3-acre former MGP plant is open space bounded to the west by a public park owned by the city. The Wisconsin River is just west of the park.

WPSC owned and operated the gas plant from the 1890s to the late 1940s in an area that was historically industrial. Processes included coal carbonization and carbureted water gas. WPSC, under its new name Integrys, still owns the site today.

Preliminary results from samples taken in 2007 indicated the surface soil in the park and nearby areas is generally clean. Deep soil in a filled-in slough (a low area filled with mud and water connected to a larger body of water, in this case the Wisconsin River) contains tar which most likely came from the former gas plant. Ground water is also contaminated with MGP-related pollutants. The contamination is not an immediate concern because it is buried and nobody is drinking the ground water.

A Community Advisory Group (CAG) is one way the community can get involved. Learn more about CAGs

Site Updates| Fact Sheets || Technical Documents || Legal Agreements

You will need the free Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

Site Updates

November 2014

A legal document called a consent decree was filed in federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on November 3. According to the agreement, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. will clean up the Stevens Point MGP site under EPA oversight. This final cleanup plan includes covering pond sediment, banning the use of groundwater, limiting future use of the site and monitoring the groundwater’s natural recovery. The cleanup is detailed in a document called the “record of decision (PDF)" (54pp, 5.2MB).

EPA based its decision on information from two documents--the feasibility study and remedial investigation report. The feasibility study incorporated information from the remedial investigation report to come up with possible cleanup options. This report included results from soil, sediment, soil vapor, and groundwater samples taken in 2011 and 2008. These samples were taken by WPSC/Integrys contractors in the Wisconsin River, in a small pond in Pfiffner Pioneer Park, and on and near the former manufactured gas plant site by the park.

This work, which was conducted and funded by WPSC/Integrys, took place under a 2006 legal agreement (called an administrative order) between WPSC and EPA. This agreement required WPSC to conduct the work under EPA oversight.

Prior to EPA's involvement, various investigations and an upland cleanup were done in the 1990s under Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources oversight.

The agreement also includes five other MGP sites in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oshkosh, and Two Rivers, Wisconsin. A separate agreement for another site, WPSC Campmarina MGP in Sheboygan, was signed by WPSC and EPA in January 2007.

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Fact Sheets

EPA Proposes Cleanup Plan, Seeks Public Comments (PDF) (6 pp, 1.4MB) June 2012

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Technical Documents

Manufactured Gas Plants (MGPs)

Learn about MGPs

EPA Region 5 is working on former MGPs in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Final Remedial Design (PDF)(54pp, 27MB) October 2014
Record of Decision (PDF) (54pp, 5.2MB) September 2012
Proposed Plan (PDF) (28 pp, 1.2MB) June 2012
Feasibility Study - Revision 3 (April 17, 2012)

Feasibility Study Report (PDF) (542 pp, 38.9MB)
Feasibility Study Revision 3 Transmittal Letter (PDF) (3 pp, 124K)

Remedial Investigation Report - Revision 3 (April 17, 2012)

Remedial Investigation Report (PDF) (226 pp, 28.0MB)
Appendices - These documents are very large, so rather than post them on this web page, please visit the local site information repository to review them or contact us and we will send you copies on CD/DVD.