Two fuel oil tanks sit at the heart of a cleanup plan Parchment residents can still shape

Parchment residents have until July 5, 2026 to weigh in on how the city plans to clean up the abandoned Crown Vantage paper mill that has sat idle on South Riverview Drive for more than two decades.

The City of Parchment is accepting public comments on a proposed cleanup plan for Parchment Paper Mill Site #2, a 22.4-acre brownfield property that includes 18 industrial buildings, two large fuel oil storage tanks, and former rail lines.

What the cleanup plan calls for

The recommended cleanup option, called Alternative #2, would abandon and remove two aboveground storage tanks holding 800,000 gallons and 1 million gallons of fuel oil, respectively.

According to the city's fact sheet, each tank sits within a concrete secondary containment structure below grade. The plan would address exposure risks associated with direct contact and manage those risks with a direct contact barrier in a cost-effective manner.

Two other alternatives were considered:

  • Alternative #1: No action
  • Alternative #3: Abandonment and removal of ASTs plus removal and backfill of secondary structures

The city says the other alternatives are either ineffective in cleaning up the site or are likely more expensive than grant funds can accommodate.

$800,000 federal grant powers the project

The cleanup effort is funded by an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded to the city on September 22, 2023. The grant came through the EPA's Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant program.

"It will be a catalyst for cleaning up and preparing our mill property for sustainable development into the future," Parchment Mayor Robert D. Britigan III said when the grant was announced in 2023, according to an MLive report by Brad Devereaux.

The city hired Fishbeck, a West Michigan-based environmental and engineering services firm, to implement the grant activities.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to work with the city on the grant proposal and thrilled to see our joint efforts pay off," said David Stegink, vice president and brownfield program manager for Fishbeck, according to the MLive article. "It is a large, complex effort to restore use to this property and it will take a significant amount of time and multiple funding sources."

A site with a complicated history

The Crown Vantage paper mill operated from 1909 to 2000. The property has been unused since operations ceased.

In 2008, developer River Reach LLC agreed to take the blighted property off the city's hands for $1. Plans stalled during the financial downturn. The city voted to buy the property back for the same price in 2019 and took back the property in 2020, according to Fishbeck.

The city has since rezoned the property to make redevelopment easier and amended its master plan to focus on redeveloping the site.

The property also carried a darker chapter. Documents obtained by MLive and the Kalamazoo Gazette in 2018 showed that PFAS chemicals manufactured by 3M were used at the paper mill. The toxic compounds were found contaminating the water supply for 3,100 people, prompting an advisory that instructed Parchment residents to immediately stop drinking their tap water.

Mayor Britigan said in 2019 that the PFAS contamination was no longer a concern for the blighted site.

How residents can comment

The public comment period runs from June 5 through July 5, 2026. Residents can submit comments through ParchmentSpeaks.org.

According to the city, commenters can navigate to the "Public Comments" section on the bottom right of the page or scroll to the "Public Comments" section at the bottom of the home page.

The cleanup plan was reviewed by the U.S. EPA before the public comment period opened. The EPA requires development of an Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives to explore various alternative actions for proposed brownfield projects before cleanup activities can begin.

The grant was one of only 18 multipurpose awards given nationally in 2023, according to the city's original news release.