State officials outline scope of contaminated-site backlog, urge steady funding and faster record digitization

Senator Irwin, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, opened a briefing Wednesday on contaminated-site cleanup by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), saying the state knows of roughly 27,000 contaminated properties and that “half of which are orphaned sites.”

Mike Miller, division director for EGLE’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division, told the committee the division manages four cleanup programs: Part 201 of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act; the Part 213 leaking underground storage tank program; the Brownfield Redevelopment Program; and the federal Superfund (CERCLA) program. He said many sites are decades old and that liability often cannot be assigned to the original parties.

“These sites are the worst of the worst,” Miller said, describing the most-expensive and longest-running cleanups that the federal Superfund program covers and for which the state must match roughly 10 percent of EPA costs. He added that the average National Priorities List site remains active about 40 years.

Miller and Deputy Director Travis Bosco emphasized that the number of known sites grows as property transactions trigger Basic Environmental Assessments (BEAs). Miller said EGLE receives about 1,200 BEAs per year, and roughly 600 of those identify sites the agency did not previously know about. He described EGLE’s recent work to reduce the number of sites with “unknown” risk categories from roughly 11,000 to just under 1,000 by assigning risk levels through a new evaluation effort.

The department reported roughly 17,000–18,000 Part 201 sites and a little under 8,000 Part 213 (leaking underground storage tank) sites. EGLE said about 1,100 sites are currently categorized as “risk present and immediate,” and about 1,700 sites statewide are actively being remediated, a figure EGLE said represents roughly 6 percent of the known universe of sites.

On leaking underground storage tank sites, Miller said Michigan had 8,139 open releases as of October 2024 in a national comparison and that EGLE has set a goal to close at least 400 such sites annually. He said the agency closed 428 sites in 2024 and is on track to close nearly 600 this year.

Bosco and Miller described the financial picture for state-managed cleanups: EGLE said it has roughly $300 million allocated across about 787 state-funded sites (an agency estimate of funding needed to complete those cleanups) and that consistent funding allows longer-term planning and fewer stop-start interventions that can raise long-term costs. Miller warned that interrupting containment or remediation can cause plumes to spread and may require repeating investigations.

Committee members pressed EGLE on redevelopment links and cleanup strategy. Senator Singh asked whether EGLE analyzes orphan-site proximity to economic-development opportunities; Miller and Bosco said the agency coordinates with local units of government and Brownfield coordinators to prioritize sites tied to redevelopment, but said public-health risk remains the primary driver for state-funded cleanups. Bosco added that EGLE’s Brownfield site-assessment group uses federal funds to help communities evaluate contaminated properties for redevelopment.

On proposed revenue changes, Bosco summarized the governor’s budget proposal to raise the solid-waste surcharge (commonly called the tipping fee) from 36 cents per ton toward $5 per ton, with the increased revenue apportioned as proposed in the budget: 55 percent for contaminated-site cleanup, 20 percent as formula money to local communities, 15 percent to host communities (communities hosting landfills), and 10 percent for materials-management planning. Bosco said the proposal also includes a phased implementation and reflects stakeholder discussions.

Senators questioned the host-community allocation and the fairness of directing more money to some landfill-hosting jurisdictions. Bosco said the distribution reflected legislative and stakeholder compromise: host communities bear landfill burdens and some existing host-community agreements may not reflect current costs.

Senator Bair and others asked how “clean” is defined. Miller said Michigan’s statutory closure criteria are tied to risk metrics and that the cancer-risk threshold in statute is 1-in-100,000 for decision making. “The cancer risk threshold is per the statute, which is 1 in 100000,” Miller said, and he described how risk-based corrective action evaluates discrete exposure pathways such as groundwater to drinking water, vapor intrusion into buildings, surface-water migration and direct contact with soil. He noted that closures can include site restrictions or covenants when future use could create exposure pathways.

EGLE staff described efforts to modernize records and public access. Staff member Devin told the committee EGLE has digitized roughly 1.3 to 1.6 million site-related documents and that the agency’s Remediation Information Data Exchange (BRIDLE) is already serving thousands of public downloads per month. Devin said the department is seeking budget support to accelerate digitization and associated indexing, redaction and software work so the agency can complete the conversion in about five years; without the funding, he said it could take a decade or more.

Committee business included two procedural motions: Senator Singh moved and Senator Bayer supported adoption of the subcommittee’s minutes from the March 13, 2025 meeting; the minutes were adopted without objection. At the end of the hearing, Senator Irwin moved, and Senator Bayer supported, to adjourn; the committee was adjourned without objection.

Miller and Bosco told senators that consistent funding, adoption of clarified risk-based guidance and continued investment in digital records would enable the department to accelerate site closures while maintaining statutory protections for public health and the environment. They said EGLE is prepared to deploy additional funds promptly if the Legislature provides them through the governor’s budget proposal.

Two related policy items the committee heard: the agency’s revision of guidance to align with national risk-based corrective action practice for petroleum releases, and an expanded push to digitize and post site records in the BRIDLE database for public and regulated-user access. Those initiatives, EGLE staff said, are intended to reduce case backlogs, lower transaction delays for property buyers and developers, and make information more readily available to residents concerned about nearby sites.