Coal tar removal from Flint gas plant site begins

Flint — A utility company is preparing to dig up 75,000 cubic yards of soil near its former manufactured gas plant in downtown Flint to remove coal tar.

The Flint River remediation project will include mobilization of equipment and site preparation set to begin in May, The Flint Journal reported.

Dredging impacted sediment and excavating riverbank soil is expected to begin in June.

An investigation into Consumers Energy’s former plant site has been ongoing since the late 1990s, said Barr Engineering geologist Karma Hughes.

Hughes said drilling at the site has unearthed coal tar byproduct that doesn’t dissolve in water.

The remediation process includes installing a protective barrier in the river, treating water from the sediment, as well as disposing sediment in an off-site landfill.

Air quality monitoring will take place in several areas around Flint, with charcoal filters set up and possible use of mulch to try and tame any odors.

Manufactured gas plants converted coal and oil to gas for heating and cooking, leading to a coal tar byproduct as part of the process.

A gas plant was operating along the remediation site from 1871 to 1928, with the utility purchasing the facility in 1922 and placing it on standby six years later before its retirement in 1951, according to Jackson-based Consumers Energy.

Consumers Energy is “following the standard process on remedial design” that went from an investigation and coordination with stakeholders to design and implementation of the plan, said Kevin Keane, an area manager for the utility.

The utility is expected to “bear the majority of this cost, but we are in discussions with the University of Michigan-Flint on cost-sharing opportunities,” Keane said.