The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Health Services, and the Sheboygan County Division of Public Health have announced that polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been detected in soil at Rochester Park in Sheboygan Falls.
The soil samples were collected at the park as part of an ongoing investigation at the Sheboygan River and Harbor Superfund Site. According to the DNR, preliminary test results indicate that PCB contamination is present in the soil near the surface in the southern portion of Rochester Park, which was created more than 40 years ago on land historically used as a landfill. The park is adjacent to the Sheboygan River and Harbor Superfund Site which includes the lower 14 miles of the river from the Sheboygan Falls Dam downstream to, and including the inner harbor. The Rochester Park site of note is located next to the former Tecumseh Products Company plant that was considered the primary source of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in river sediment that prompted the initial Superfund designation according to the EPA.
Sheboygan Falls Mayor Randy Meyer said in a news release on Thursday that “The City of Sheboygan Falls is working closely with the DNR, DHS and Sheboygan County Health department on public notification and safety. After reviewing the data with the DNR and DHS on Thursday, April 7, we immediately reached out to Stantec (an Alberta, Canada based environmental engineering company with offices in Mequon) to enlist their environmental expertise. Now that we are aware, we will fully identify the scope of the problem and implement a comprehensive solution, with the public health and welfare as our top priority.”
Signage is being developed to advise users of affected areas. The EPA states that visitors to those areas can further reduce possible exposure to PCBs and other harmful agents in soil by:
. Cleaning off soil from shoes, clothes, bikes, toys, discs, and picnic blankets.
. Cleaning off soil from pets’ fur and paws, and do not let them lick or eat soil.
. Washing hands after touching soil, cleaning off soil, and before eating.
The EPA says that exposure to high levels of PCBs over long periods of time may be harmful to health, as they break down slowly and can accumulate in the environment, and build up over time in the fat of people and animals.
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