Parties Agree to Cleanup of Master Metals Site

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has signed an agreement with a group of responsible parties to address the final phase of a lead contamination cleanup in Detroit.

Under the agreement, the companies will voluntarily excavate contaminated soil from at least 69 residential properties.  The work is expected to begin by late next month. The companies will also pay for the cleanup now under way at the former Master Metals property.

The agreement took effect on August 22. Called an administrative order on consent, it was signed by EPA and a group of six companies previously identified by the agency as responsible for lead contamination at Master Metals. 

Under the agreement, the parties Daimler/Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honeywell, Johnson Controls and NL Corp. will pay about $3.7 million. This includes about $2.5 million in costs related to the residential areas cleanup and about $1.2 million to address the Master Metals property.

Since March, EPA has collected more than 600 soil samples from the neighborhood near the site. As a result, 69 residential properties have been identified for cleanups that include excavation of soil with lead levels at or above 400 parts per million, backfill with clean soil and restoration of landscaping. Under the agreement, EPA expects the responsible parties to contact these property owners in the near future, following up with cleanups where lead levels exceed 400 ppm.