We Are Wolverine

House Street Remediation Update – November 16, 2023

As mentioned in previous updates on this blog here and here, we expect the 2023 work at our House Street property to wrap up at the end of this week, at which time RECON is expecting to remove the construction equipment. Between now and then, we continue to prepare the site for the winter, including sloping it for proper drainage and installing soil erosion controls.

Over the winter, the site will be visited regularly to complete observations of the soil erosion and stormwater controls. When frost restrictions are lifted from the roads in the spring, RECON will remobilize to the site. We will provide an update on that schedule as the time is closer.

The air monitoring at the site continues to show levels far below action limits, with no issues or concerns identified. Now available are the most recent air monitoring results for the weeks ending November 3 and November 10. When air monitoring results for this week are compiled, they will be added to this blog post.

See below for photos, including an aerial photo of sitework taken in October, and a photo taken this week showing the site stabilized for winter with straw and seed.

Wolverine will be using this blog to keep the community informed as work progresses in the weeks and months ahead. In addition, residents with questions are encouraged to contact Wolverine directly at HouseStreet@wwwinc.com or (616) 866-5627.

Environmental Investigation Update

For the past several years Wolverine Worldwide has been conducting environmental investigation and remediation work in northern Kent County related to PFAS, a family of chemicals that were used in Scotchgard and a variety of other industrial and consumer products. We have used this blog to provide updates on our work, which includes environmental remediation at our House Street property, installing a groundwater interception system at our former tannery property, funding a municipal water system expansion, and sampling soil, groundwater, and pore water.

We recently began some additional environmental investigation work in the area, at our Rockford headquarters and at a former warehouse across the street that now houses footwear repair and warranty operations. Earlier this year a purchaser of property to the south of the warehouse conducted a routine prepurchase inspection and identified PFAS in shallow groundwater at that property. Upon receiving those results the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) began sampling nearby residential wells for PFAS, and we began a focused investigation at our headquarters and warehouse properties.

We previously sampled groundwater at our headquarters property for PFAS and the results were all below criteria. We are now conducting additional PFAS sampling on that property and also sampling the warehouse property. We prepared the plan for this expanded work in consultation with EGLE, and are awaiting sampling results. The data will be used to help inform ongoing investigation efforts in the area, and when we receive the results we will coordinate with EGLE to determine what, if any, next steps are appropriate.

In addition to this groundwater sampling, we have also engaged our environmental consultant to review records and files and perform additional onsite investigation work at our properties. Included in this work is a review of historic permits issued by EGLE to occasionally dredge sediment from the Rogue River in front of our former tannery to ensure proper operation of the water intake pipes. Pursuant to these State-issued permits, some of the dredged sediment was placed at the headquarters property in the 1980s and early 2000s. We are actively working to identify and delineate the sediment, and will coordinate with EGLE to determine any next steps.

We will continue to use this blog to keep the community informed as our investigation and related work progresses in the weeks and months ahead. As always, residents with questions or feedback are encouraged to contact Wolverine Worldwide directly at HouseStreet@wwwinc.com or (616) 866-5627.

House Street Remediation Update, November 2, 2023

The work at our House Street property continues, as described in our post from October 19^th. RECON has continued to construct the drainage swale along the southwest mound, and is moving contaminated soil and waste into the southwest mound area and continuing excavation within the retention pond. Once RECON has excavated to design depth for the retention pond, they will begin importing stone for the bottom of the pond. This work is still planned to continue through at least November 17.

In addition to the work noted above, we also recently made some updates to our Air Monitoring Plan, and you can find the updated plan at this link. The air monitoring continues to show levels far below action limits, with no issues or concerns identified. Now available are the most recent air monitoring results for the weeks ending October 21 and October 28.

House Street Remediation Update, October 19, 2023

The work at our House Street property continues, as described in our post last week. Over the course of this week, RECON has continued to construct the drainage swale along the southwest mound, and is moving contaminated soil and waste into the southwest mound area. This work will continue through at least November 17. Depending on how construction progresses, and if RECON has excavated to design depth for the retention pond, they will begin importing stone for the bottom of the pond.

In addition to the work noted above, we also recently made some updates to our Air Monitoring Plan, and you can find the updated plan at this link. The air monitoring continues to show levels far below action limits, with no issues or concerns identified. The most recent air monitoring results for the week ending October 14 can be found at this link.

Among these updates is that if there is an exceedance of the established action limits at the fence line monitors, then after on-site notifications and actions, GZA will contact nearby residents to communicate the exceedance, explain the mitigation measures being taken, and provide an update on the current status of the mitigation.