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Milwaukee — The Milwaukee Municipal Sewer District is working to safely remove polychlorinated biphenyls that were discovered more than a decade ago from the sewers of certain areas of Milwaukee.
Keith Kalinger has been a Senior Project Manager at MMSD for 12 years.
One winter day, he was on his way to a cleanup site at Basin H on the west side of the Milwaukee River.
“We’re installing some air monitoring equipment right now,” Kallinger said.
Kalinger explained that the Environmental Protection Agency banned the chemical in 1979, so PCBs need to be removed from the area.
PCBs were used in electrical equipment and other industrial processes. First discovered in Milwaukee in 2008, the source was the former Milwaukee Die Casting Factory.
By the time it was discovered, the chemical had spread to nearby sewers.
“PCB deposits are at the bottom of sewers that are used and run every day and really need to be removed from the system and disposed of properly,” Caringer said.
Since the substance was discovered in 2008, MMSD has worked with the EPA and the Department of Natural Resources to develop strategies to remove this substance.
PCBs pose a risk to the environment and human health, Kalinger said, requiring a cautious approach to how they are handled.
“We’re going to isolate certain parts of this sewer system so that this sediment doesn’t wash down downstream or back up upstream. Then we pump this sediment out of the sewer system over several days and transport it. treatment,” said Kallinger.
MMSD expects to complete the cleanup within 6-8 months. Kalinger said he is proud that the city’s sewage system is operating effectively.
“I feel a sense of kinship and strength with this community, making sure we are doing our part to keep the water clean and that if there are any types of contaminants in the system, it will help other people. We want to make sure it doesn’t get left behind as a community legacy.
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