Jordan Creek, Pine Creek and Hayton Millpond:
A Wisconsin Environmental Accountability Project

Description

Jordan Creek, Pine Creek from its confluence with Jordan Creek, and Hayton Millpond were placed on the “303(d)” impaired waters list in 2002 due to the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish tissue and in the sediment on the beds and floodplains.

Jordan Creek is 1.2 mile long tributary to Pine Creek in Calumet County in east central Wisconsin. It is a non-continuous stream and receives discharge from the New Holstein wastewater treatment plant. Although its present stream classification is Limited Aquatic Life, it has been proposed to be reclassified as a warm water forage fishery. Pine Creek, from its confluence with Jordan Creek flows northwest for 7.4 miles to Hayton Millpond. Pine Creek is managed as a warm water sport fishery and may have the potential is certain segments to support a cool water fishery, due to discharge from spring where the stream cuts through a glacial esker. Hayton Millpond is a very shallow 31 acre impoundment located at the confluence of Pine Creek with the South Branch of the Manitowoc River.

History

Some time in the late-1960s, PCBs were likely released into a New Holstein storm sewer that discharges to ditches connected to Jordan Creek. However, it wasn’t until the late-1980s as part of a routine fish tissue survey that PCB contaminated fish were found in Hayton Millpond. As a result, the state’s first “Do not eat and fish” consumption advisory, the most stringent level advisory, was issued for these three waters. Subsequent investigations traced the release back upstream to the storm sewer at the northeast end of New Holstein.

Current Status

In 2001, as part of a voluntary contaminated sediment cleanup, Tecumseh Products Company removed nearly 12,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the drainage ditches tributary to Jordan Creek. The Department estimated that nearly 1000 kilograms of PCBs were removed; comprising 98 percent of the known mass in this segment. The PCB concentrations removed ranged up to 2,300 parts per million (ppm); with the post-removal concentrations averaging less than 1 ppm.

In 2004, Tecumseh Products Company removed additional PCB deposits in and along the length of Jordan Creek and a portion of Pine Creek. The highest concentration removed was 1,600 ppm.

Future Action

In 2008, TRC Environmental, a national firm acting on behalf of Tecumseh Products Company, is slated to conduct contaminated sediment removal along a 4.1 mile length of Pine Creek. This removal will encompass more than 30,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment containing about 1,000 kilograms of PCBs. Much of the PCB mass is in six acres of wetland with concentrations of up to 800 ppm. The objective is to remove all PCB deposits in the stream with concentrations of more than 1 ppm and on the floodplain of more than 5 ppm.

Subsequent removal will focus on the remaining portion of Pine Creek and the majority of Hayton Millpond. The PCB concentrations in the millpond where the contaminated fish were first found are in the range of 1 to 5 ppm.

Organizations and Funding Sources Involved in the Restoration Project

The Hayton Area Remediation Project is being conducted as a voluntary cleanup with virtually all of the funding coming from private sources. EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office has provided two “seed” grants to move the project ahead. Both EPA and DNR are required to approve all remedial work, with DNR taking the lead in project oversight.

Target Date for Removal from 303(d) List:

The fish and aquatic life in Jordan Creek, Pine Creek and Hayton Millpond will need time to respond. Although it is unlikely that older fish will show a change, younger fish should start to show much lower fish tissue concentrations. Collection of fish for analysis is inhibited by the fact that Jordan Creek is a non-continuous flow stream and fish passage from Pine Creek is restricted by high gradient reaches. An estimate for removal of these waters from the 303(d) list cannot be projected at this time.

For questions and comments about the material contained in this site contact: James Baumann, Bureau of Watershed Management.