PARKER SAGA

What seems like decades of investigations and wrangling is approaching an end with regard to the former Parker Rust Proof land in Morenci. The company was first fined for environmental problems in the early

1980s when the Michigan Department of Natural Resources was the regulatory agency.

Long-time residents know the company wasn’t serving as a good environmental steward long before that. Bean Creek might have a yellow tinge one day, then a greenish color another day, with the flavor of the day apparently determined by what was discharged at the chemical plant.

Apparently that was the situation back in the 1950s and 60s. The company can be excused those transgressions only in that it was following the generally accepted practices of the day. Streams and drains were once used for disposal. It wasn’t until the 1970s that action was taken against such practices.

The Parker company was faulted by the DNR and later the U.S. EPA for contamination stemming from the use of outdoor storage barrels. According to reports, the barrels disintegrated and leaked. They were left open so evaporation could do its work toward disposal. Some contaminants found their way to Bean Creek, as evidenced by a trail of substances leading to the river.

In the end, cleanup problems were fewer than some had suspected. Contaminated soil was removed in 1999 and additional soil is heading out this week. Contamination exists in some ground water, but not at a high enough level to worry the EPA.

There are probably people at Henkel Surface Technologies—the current owner of the property—who say, “See, we told you there was no problem.” The company has resisted the EPA’s attempts for additional work ordered in 2002.

The problem was apparently not of the magnitude feared, but that doesn’t minimize the role played by the

DNR and the EPA. Mismanagement of contaminants in past decades could have led to a much more serious problem, and it’s up to the regulatory agencies to look out for citizens’ health and welfare.

The EPA and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality often get a bad rap for causing unnecessary troubles and expenditures to business owners. That undoubtedly happens in some cases, but it’s part of the price we pay for keeping an eye on operations where the environment and residents’ health take a back seat to business success.