According to a June 2025 news release from EGLE on the clean-up, “in the early 1900s, Cleveland-Cliffs Iron used the site to produce charcoal for nearby mining operations. When operations ceased in the late 1960s, the site was left with decades’ worth of industrial pollution and abandoned structures.

“Cleanup and revitalization efforts are now underway and the EPA Brownfield Cleanup Grant awarded in 2023 is fueling the city’s work to address long-standing contamination and improve groundwater quality.”

According to the EPA, that industrial pollution comes in the form of volatile organic compounds and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

The site was placed on the EPA’s Superfund program’s National Priority List in the 1980s. Following remediation efforts, it was taken off of that list in 2000.

Pictured is the former Cliffs-Dow site along Lakeshore Boulevard in the city of Marquette. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)

The city of Marquette purchased the approximately 77 acre property in October 1997, “with the intent of securing control over redevelopment options for large undeveloped lakeshore property,” according to a report titled “Former Cliffs-Dow Site Project Update” presented in a Marquette City Commission work session and regular meeting in December 2019.

The city sold two parcels of the property in 1998 and 1999, leaving approximately 46 acres.

Development of the site has not yet occurred. A “deed restriction placed on property limit(ed) property to non residential uses and prohibit(ed) groundwater use,” and in 1999, MDEQ (now EGLE), indicated that the city was responsible for clean-up of the site, according to the 2019 report.

Over the years, the city has engaged in several site monitoring and clean-up efforts, including the limited source removal of 845 tons of tar in buried trenches and piping in July 2011.

This new remediation effort has been in the works for several years; the city applied for the EPA grant in 2022.

“The EPA has approved In-Situ remediation for the site,” said city of Marquette Director of Community Development Dennis Stachewicz. “In-Situ remediation involves treatment of the groundwater directly at the site without excavation or removal of material.

“In this case, the project team will be injecting material into the ground that will create a reactive barrier that captures the contamination, acting as a filter to reduce the amount of contamination where the groundwater meets the surface water of Lake Superior.”

Stachewicz does not anticipate that any roads or paths will be closed during the remediation efforts.

“This project is anticipated to be completed in late 2026 depending on the efficacy of the treatments,” said Stachewicz.

The site sits on acres of prime real estate situated along Lakeshore Boulevard. However, there’s currently no definite way to know which types of development will be possible on the property post-remediation.

“That really depends on the cleanup and how successful it is,” said Stachewicz.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.