Tar Contamination Found At Former Industrial Site
MARQUETTE (AP) - Two sources of tar contamination have been found at a former industrial site in Marquette.
The Mining Journal reported Thursday that crews found the contamination in a trench and in two 15-foot-long holding tanks at the old Cliffs Dow site.
Planning and Community Development Director Dennis Stachewicz Jr. says contents of the tanks were being excavated. The city has had 315 cubic yards of tar-tainted soil and debris hauled to a landfill.
Dow Chemical and Cleveland Cliffs operated at the site, which was active from 1935 to 1968. It made charcoal, methanol and other chemicals.
Wood tar is a byproduct and the main contaminant still at the site.
The plant closed in 1969. The city bought the property in 1997 for $1.
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