Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.
The Cadillac Industrial Park Area is made up of several properties, which include several EGLE-led sites and several EPA-led Superfund sites that have historically conducted industrial and plating activities. Since 1983, the EPA has removed waste, contaminated soil, associated sludges, contaminated sewer lines, and part of a building from the Northernaire site. In 1985, remedial investigation found hexavalent chromium in groundwater. A pump and treat system was put in place to treat the contaminated groundwater and later discontinued when long-term remedial action goals were met to address the hexavalent chromium.
Because plating operations often use PFAS in their manufacturing processes, in 2021 and 2022, EGLE sampled groundwater at the Northernaire Superfund site for PFAS. The highest results of these sampling events were 7.24 ppt PFOA, and 11 ppt PFBS, which did not exceed Michigan’s groundwater criteria at the time of sampling.
In August of 2024, EGLE was made aware of a citizen who sampled their own private residential well in the industrial area and results exceeded drinking water criteria. In late September 2024, that home was connected to municipal water. There are two other homes within the industrial area that the city will sample and will be offered to connect to municipal water.
Groundwater flow direction is expected to be to the northwest in all aquifers, away from the nearby Lake Cadillac and Clam River.
Content updated January 2025.
See an aerial view of the location of the site with the initial sampling areas denoted in purple.
See an aerial view of the location of the site with the sampling area as of 1/15/2025.
Due to learning about a residential well that had PFAS above drinking water criteria in the industrial area, EGLE worked with EPA, DHHS, and local health to develop a residential well sampling plan. In October 2024, EGLE’s contractor, AECOM, sent letters to residents who live to the north of the industrial area (North Park and Pine View Subdivisions), and the closest homes to the west and south of the industrial area as shown on the map below (the purple boundaries), seeking permission to sample their private drinking water wells. These homes made up the initial residential well sampling area.
Results from the first round of sampling were analyzed by the project team (EGLE, DHHS, and local health) and sampling was expanded out further. Additional drinking water sampling was done in an expanded sampling area November 2024, and based on those results, the sampling area was expanded again and additional samples collected in December 2024. The second map shows the sampling area as of January 15, 2025.
A Cadillac Industrial Park Area of Interest Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) was developed to address some of the many questions posed to the project team. The FAQ was a multi-agency effort.
The Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) is working on a sampling plan and quality assurance project plan to conduct PFAS sampling of groundwater monitoring wells within the Superfund Site area. That sampling is likely to occur in the spring of 2025.
EGLE, DHHS, and local health will continue to review drinking water sampling results and expand the sampling area if necessary.
