The old chemical plant and the Pine River

St. Louis carries a heavy piece of Michigan history. From 1936 to 1978, a chemical plant on the banks of the Pine River — Michigan Chemical, later Velsicol — made DDT and a flame retardant called PBB. In 1973, in one of the worst chemical accidents in American history, some of that PBB was mixed by mistake into livestock feed and shipped to farms across the state, contaminating cattle and other animals and, eventually, nearly everyone in Michigan. The plant closed in 1978 and was torn down and buried where it stood, sealed under a wall and a cap.

The site is one of the country’s longest-running federal Superfund cleanups, and the work is still going on today. The Pine River next to the old plant was badly polluted with DDT, and the state has long advised against eating fish caught there. In recent years the EPA has been building a barrier to keep contaminated groundwater out of the river and hauling away contaminated soil and water. Because of all this, St. Louis long ago switched its drinking water to a clean source, and homes in town are on municipal water — so the tap water people drink is tested and safe.

None of this means you shouldn’t live in St. Louis — thousands of people do, and the town has worked hard for decades to clean up and move forward. But if you’re buying near the old plant site or the river, it’s worth understanding the history, knowing where the Superfund boundaries are, and asking normal due-diligence questions. The EPA keeps public information on the cleanup, and the local Pine River Superfund Citizens Task Force has tracked it for years.