PCBs in the Fox River

In 1954, Fox River Valley paper mills began manufacturing carbonless copy paper coated with a PCB emulsion, and PCBs were released to the environment through manufacturing processes. Approximately 30 million pounds of this emulsion were reportedly used in the Lower Fox Valley between about 1954 and 1971. The use of PCBs was unregulated and the potential health effects were unknown during this time period. It is estimated that by 1971 when the use of PCBs ceased, over 98% of the PCBs present within the Lower Fox River had been discharged, and a portion of these PCBs settled into the river sediments.

In addition to the river sediments, PCBs have also been detected in many fish and birds species in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay. PCBs concentrate in the fatty tissue of fish that eat contaminated river sediment, and get passed up the food chain in a process called bioaccumulation (see What Are PCBs?). DNR has estimated the cumulative release of PCBs discharged into the Lower Fox River from about 1954 until the early 1970s to be about 691,370 pounds, with a possible range between 278,775 and 880,640 pounds. Based on sediment data collected from 1989 through 1998, total estimated PCB mass contained within Lower Fox River sediments is over 64,440 pounds. Approximately 91% of this mass occurs in the De Pere to Green Bay reach.

PCBs from sediment deposits are discharged into Green Bay at the mouth of the Lower Fox River as water currents carry river sediment downstream. Sediments are the most significant source of PCBs entering the water column, and over 95% of the PCBs in Green Bay are derived from the Lower Fox River. It has been estimated that approximately 160,000 pounds of PCBs have already escaped the Lower Fox River into Green Bay and Lake Michigan. In addition, up to 620 pounds of PCBs are estimated to be transported from the Fox River into Green Bay annually, based on data collected in 1989/90. The removal of contaminated sediment from the river will help stop more PCBs from entering Green Bay, where they are much more difficult to capture and clean up.

Several entities have been identified as responsible parties (RPs) for the PCB discharges into the Lower Fox River, and are or will be helping with the cleanup of PCBs from the river. They are P.H. Glatfelter Co.; WTM1; Appleton Papers Inc./ NCR; U.S. Papers; Riverside Paper Company: and Georgia-Pacific.