MARINA CLIFFS (a.k.a former Northwestern Barrel Comapany Site)
SITE LOCATION
South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (The Marina Cliffs site is
directly adjacent to the Lake Michigan shoreline).
SITE DESCRIPTION (as of dates of TOSC assistance)
South Milwaukee is home to the Marina Cliffs Barrel Dump
Superfund site, which is 13 acres of vacant land on the Lake Michigan
shoreline. A barrel reconditioning facility operated on the property from
the early 1940s until 1964. Residuals from the cleaning and refurbishing
were dumped on the ground. There was extensive contamination of the soil
with a variety of compounds, including polychlorinated biphenyls, lead,
and chromium. The site is currently owned by Towne Realty and is zoned
for single-family homes.
This limited TOSC intervention in South Milwaukee involved
extended discussions with community leaders, providing fact sheets on
site investigations, PCBs and lead, and an offer of more intensive TOSC
assistance. At the time, significant distrust of U.S. EPA had developed
within the community, which affected the community’s willingness
to work with TOSC. Following prolonged phone discussions and a presentation
by TOSC at a public meeting in South Milwaukee (see the agenda
for the meeting), community members decided not to work further with TOSC.
