The environmental health and restoration of Mirror Lake near the former DuPont chemical plant in White River Township will be the focal point of a public hearing — via Zoom — on Tuesday, May 27, at 6 p.m.

Interested participants can register by typing https://bit.ly/WRD0527 into a browser. Those who would like to see a copy of the site plan, the restoration plan, have a link sent to them, or have any questions can e-mail makeitrightchemours@gmail.com.

The cleanup of Mirror Lake has been a goal of the Chemours Environmental Impact Committee (CEIC) since the group formed in 2018.

When the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) posted on March 26 that Chemours (a DuPont spinoff now in charge of the property that housed the former plant) had submitted a plan to deal with the lime residue in and around the lake, CEIC responded with comments to ensure that Chemours had a robust restoration concept, and that a public hearing would be held.

With the announcement of the public hearing, a restoration plan from the Muskegon Conservation District, at the request of Chemours, had also been submitted.

The hills of lime are a chemical process’ byproduct that was intended to be marketed. From the air, they look like a lunar landscape. This lime-waste dump buried a pristine valley known for the abundance of its wildlife in less than a decade.

The ravine had been carved by a stream that had once fed Mirror Lake, described in a 2007 DuPont report to be about 800 feet long and 300 feet at its widest point. It probably earned its name because one could see his or her reflection on the surface.

In the late 1950s, DuPont built a sand dam at the north end of the lake, across the ravine, from hillside to hillside. A large concrete pipe – north to south – ran through the bottom of the dam. Over the next few years, the ravine was filled with lime sludge, covering everything — full-grown trees and all.

DuPont described it this way: “In 1955, the Montague facility was constructed and became fully operational in 1956… In approximately 1955, an adjacent Union Carbide facility began manufacturing acetylene, which produced a lime by-product.” The lime “was stored in a low-lying area located approximately 1,250 feet due south of the main DuPont operating area.”

But that “low-lying area’s” days as a veritable nature center – home to ducks, mink, muskrats, red-tailed hawks, and ruffed grouse — were numbered. Once the “low-lying area” was filled, the pile began to grow upward. DuPont purchased Union Carbide’s plant in 1961, inheriting the lime-filled ravine and the lime pile. Breaks near the south end in 1963, 1970 and 1971 sent the white stuff toward the lake.

Thanks to the wizardry of aerial technology, photos from 1955 and earlier show Mirror Lake in its pristine condition, historically being fed by a stream from as far north as Wilkes Road. By August of 1962, the lime pile had covered the former stream bed. Detectable is the lime slurry moving slowly like a glacier into the north end of the lakebed.

These developments were cited in a 1996 DuPont letter as being “not of concern” because (a) Mirror Lake does not feed surrounding water bodies, (b) any impacted groundwater would be captured by interceptor wells, © affected residents had been hooked up to a municipal water supply, and (d) DuPont had purchased additional land to the southeast, signifying that DuPont had obtained “adequate control” of the groundwater underlying the site.

The closing statement reads: “These items indicate that the DuPont Montague facility has adequately and effectively addressed any concerns related to the lime pile.”

Residents disagreed. They believe Mirror Lake became a shadow of what it used to be. Interceptor wells lowered the water level. The entire complex of lime encompassed 36 acres, with the piles ranging in thickness from 5 to 53 feet. The lime accumulation in the lake – visible from nearby West Old Channel Trail in the spring when green growth is minimal – has been affecting that body of water’s ecology for at least 55 years.

The continuing issue of Mirror Lake’s desecration and other toxic leftovers from the plant – owned and managed by Chemours since 2015 – spurred the 2018 formation of CEIC. This citizens group, originally consisting of residents of White River Township, now has grown to include many residents in the White Lake area.

Since 2018, CEIC has been communicating with Chemours and the Hazardous Waste Section of EGLE on all aspects of the former plant’s cleanup. It shares a vision with Chemours for an eventual nature preserve on the property and a solution to the lime-removal challenge.

DuPont itself recognized the need to address the huge lime pile decades ago and formed Lime Specialties Inc., in 1988 to mine and market the lime for reuse. The pile has been reduced from an estimated 1 million cubic yards in 1983, to approximately 580,000 cubic yards in 2009. But it’s still there.

In addition to restoring Mirror Lake, CEIC’s objectives include:

• Removing all the unlined landfills at the manufacturing site.

• Testing the sediment in Sadony Bayou, downstream from Pierson Creek, which is downhill and a nearby landfill at the former plant.

• Testing the soil at the former plant, including the open spaces adjacent to the existing concrete slabs.

• Checking the plant’s pipeline to Lake Michigan for leaks and for soil contamination underneath.

• Conserving portions of the DuPont property with the possible objective of converting White Lake frontage into a public space.

• Restoring the entire site comprehensively, so that restrictions on future use are not needed.

“CEIC and its growing list of supporters,” says members Marisa McGlue and Tom Thinnes, “realize the dynamics of change can never get us back to ‘The Way We Were.’ But there is a will and a way to improve ‘The Way We Are.’”