An environmental clean up involving the Kalamazoo River is underway following a crash on I-196 near Saugatuck in January that resulted in a spill of “several thousand pounds” of white, plastic pellets.
Before the crash Jan. 27, a northbound semi-truck and trailer left the roadway near the south end of the I-196 bridge over the Kalamazoo River. The resulting crash led to a large spill of polystyrene plastic pellets, known as nurdles, that have entered the Kalamazoo River and adjacent wetlands.
Nurdles are microplastics — tiny plastic pieces the state has classified as contaminants of emerging concern. They measure 2-5 millimeters and are about the size of a grain of rice or pencil eraser.
Nurdles aren’t considered toxic or hazardous materials and there’s no known risk to public health. However, due to their size, they’re difficult to clean up and can harm wildlife who mistake them for food.
The truck was hauling over 26,000 pounds of the white plastic pellets. The full extent of the spill wasn’t known until last week’s thaw, and is estimated to be several thousand pounds of material, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
As part of the clean up, the Michigan Department of Transportation closed a section of northbound I-196 on Feb. 26 to remove a large pile of the spilled material and to repair a damaged guardrail.
Pellets are thought to stretch at least four miles down the highway, due to spillage during removal of the trailer and snow plowing after the fact, according to EGLE. Some of the pellets released into the river sank and others floated.
A timeline for the clean up process is still being determined, according to EGLE Public Information Officer Josef Stephens.
“EGLE is working with the responsible party to identify the scope and amount of the release, as well as a clean up plan that will take into account contaminated sediments,” Stephens wrote in an email.
EGLE issued a violation notice to the trucking company, Quest Liner, of Dubuque, Iowa, on Feb. 26.
— Contact reporter Austin Metz at ametz@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Clean up underway for plastic pellet spill after crash near Saugatuck
Reporting by Austin Metz, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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