Air near chemical plant remains polluted long after closure

By AMANDA PROSCIA
Capital News Service
LANSING — The air near a mid-Michigan chemical plant that was closed for cleanup nearly 40 years ago because it threatened the environment remains contaminated with chemicals, according to a new study. The study concludes that people living within six miles of the 54-acre former site of the Velsicol Chemical Co. “are still being subject to relatively high levels of HBB, PBBs, and DDTs in the air they breathe.” It was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Those are among the chemicals that prompted federal regulators to designate the chemical factory in St. Louis, Mich., a Superfund site in 1982.