ST. LOUIS, Mich. (WOOD) — More than 50 years after the start of Michigan’s “PBB Disaster,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency remains hard at work dealing with the aftermath.
EPA crews are working to install a barrier wall at the Velsicol Chemical Superfund site in St. Louis to prevent contaminated soil and groundwater from flowing into the nearby Pine River.
The former Velsicol Chemical Plant in Gratiot County is the epicenter of an environmental disaster that ultimately killed millions of farm animals, financially destroyed many farmers and poisoned millions of people across the state.
A shipping mixup from the chemical company was the trigger point. In the spring of 1973, the Michigan Farm Bureau placed a bulk order for a product called Nutrimaster, a magnesium oxide mixture that is commonly added to dairy feed to help cows produce more milk.
PBB: How a simple shipping error poisoned most of Michigan
Instead, they were sent Firemaster, a fire retardant full of polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) that had almost the exact same color and consistency as Nutrimaster…