1,4-Dioxane Cleanup

Pumping and Treatment of Groundwater

Contaminated groundwater is currently pulled from the ground via extraction wells.  The contaminated water is then transported to the Gelman site for treatment using the advanced oxidation process of ExtractionWell Locationsozone (O3) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

There are currently 14 active (out of 22 total) extraction wells pumping a minimum of 300 gallons per minute (gpm). From October 2019 to September 2020, an average of 471 gpm of contaminated groundwater was pumped and treated.

The treated water, which still contains low levels of 1,4-dioxane, is then discharged to an unnamed tributary of Honey Creek.  Gelman must meet both monthly and daily discharge limits for both 1,4-dioxane and bromate per their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

  • Monthly average of 20,361,600 gallons of water treated.
  • Monthly average of 67 pounds of 1,4-dioxane removed.

Consent Judgment

The Consent Judgment is a legal agreement between the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), formerly DEQ, and Gelman Sciences that dictates the monitoring and treatment of the contamination.  The Consent Judgment was first enacted in 1992.  

The Consent Judgment was amended a first time in 1996 and a second time in 1999.  In 2005 an Order Prohibiting Groundwater Use was put into place (see more information below) creating a Prohibition Zone.  The Consent Judgment was amended a third time in 2011 and a fourth time in 2023, both of which included an expansion of the Prohibition Zone. 

The proposed Fourth Amendment and Restatement of the Consent Judgment, and related documents, can be accessed via the document repository webpage. The Fourth Amendment reduced the drinking water criteria from 85 to 7.2 ppb and the groundwater to surface water (GSI) criteria from 2,800 to 280 ppb to be in line with current State of Michigan cleanup criteria.  It also required new monitoring and extraction wells, updated monitoring plans, and expansion of the Prohibition Zone.

Order Prohibiting Groundwater Use / Prohibition Zone

The Order Prohibiting Groundwater Use created a 'Prohibition Zone' as an Institutional Control to prevent exposures to 1,4-dioxane.  

PZ2021Within the Prohibition Zone, the installation of a water supply wells for drinking, irrigation, commercial or industrial use is prohibited.  

The Prohibition Zone, implemented in 2005, is located east of Wagner Road and all properties within the Prohibition Zone are connected to municipal water.  The Prohibition Zone was expanded in 2011 as part of the 3rd Consent Judgment Amendment and again in 2023 as part of the 4th Consent Judgment Amendment.

Remedial Objective Areas

The 4th Amendment to the Consent Judgment detailed remediation objectives for the Eastern Area and the Western Area. The Eastern Area, east of Wagner Road, objectives included the groundwater use Prohibition Zone. The Western Area, west of Wagner Road, employs a non-expansion cleanup objective.    

Response activities implemented to meet the remedial objectives included pumping and treating of contaminated groundwater and a compliance monitoring well network.