LANSING, MI – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she reached a settlement in a lawsuit between the state and the owner of former Keeler Brass Company sites across the Grand Rapids area.

The agreement requires the Keeler Brass entities to investigate hazardous substances released at four of their former sites and clean up pollution found that exceeds state rules.

“Michigan residents deserve to be safe from environmental contamination in their communities,” Nessel said in a released statement.

Nessel filed the lawsuit in 2022 seeking to force the Keeler Brass entities to investigate and clean up sites where metal finishing was done, a process widely known to use volatile organic compounds like trichloroethylene and PFAS chemicals.

Compounds such as trichloroethylene when present in high enough concentrations can cause exposure to harmful vapors inside buildings above the contamination. PFAS can cause health problems and are known as “forever chemicals” because of their resistance to degradation in the environment and within the bodies of people exposed to them.

The suit targeted 10 sites across the Grand Rapids area, while the settlement forces action at four locations.

Keeler Brass-associated entities must:

• address both PFAS and other compounds, and install any needed vapor intrusion mitigation systems at buildings at 955 Godfrey SW, Grand Rapids;
• investigate the extent of pollution in groundwater and aquifers and possible impacts to a creek, plus vapor intrusion control at buildings at 2929 32nd St. SE, Kentwood;
• investigate perchloroethylene pollution and mitigate any vapor intrusion risks at buildings at 236 Stevens St. SW, Grand Rapids; and,
• investigate trichloroethylene pollution and mitigate vapor intrusion at buildings at 835 Hall St. SW, Grand Rapids.

Scientists with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will oversee the investigate and pollution remediation work. Agency Director Phil Roos said the settlement will help protect people from these substances.

Additionally, the Keeler Brass entities must pay the state’s legal bills, as well as past and future oversight costs.

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