North American Dismantling Clears GM Foundry in Saginaw
December 19, 2023
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2010 issue of DEMOLITION.
North American Dismantling Corporation (NADC), a nationwide company located in Lapeer, Michigan, specializes in heavy industrial demolition, strip out and many other aspects of specialty demolition. NADC also has extensive experience in environmental assessment and remediation, project engineering and specialty construction.
Recently, NADC, as the prime contractor, completed the demolition of the old General Motors (GM) Malleable Iron Foundry, once a thriving industrial facility, located in Saginaw, Michigan.
The massive one-million-square-foot GM facility was centered on a 275-acre site and opened its doors for the production of metal sand-mold castings in 1917. The foundry continued to supply the automotive market for 90 years until it permanently closed its doors in June 2007. The complex boasted a nine-story building as well as a single-story plant with towering 30-foot ceilings. There were many tunnels, pits and basements, all of which NADC had to comply with. The foundry also included additional buildings such as a maintenance facility, a recycled water treatment facility, employee locker rooms and numerous storage buildings and utility sheds including an oil shed, light non-aqueous phase liquids pump and treatment shed, a malleable substation and butler’s quarters.
NADC began remediation work on the foundry in November of 2009. Commissioned by Motors Liquidation Company of Detroit (formerly GM), the $15 million project called for the total demolition and removal of all structures down to the concrete foundations.
“One of the first steps in the demolition process involved asbestos remediation and various testing procedures to ensure we met or exceeded the criteria set forth in the U.S. EPA’s plan,” says Don Clark, both a project manager and estimator for NADC. “We contracted with EQ Industrial Services (EQIS) of Ypsilanti, Michigan, to blast and power wash the interior before we demolished the building.”
In 2007, GM completed a facility environmental plan (FEA) indicating a large amount of PCB-contaminated material existed throughout the facility that included sludge, dust and contaminated water. Possibly one of the most challenging aspects of this contamination was the accumulation of PCBs between layers of lead paint on the building structure itself. The facility also used asbestos-clad systems which added yet another pollutant to be dealt with.
Subcontractor National Environmental Group of Flint, Michigan, was responsible for both lead and asbestos abatement. In addition to the widespread PCB, lead and asbestos contamination, there was universal wastes, heavy metals and other ACMs, all of which needed to be addressed by NADC.
The remediation process included sealing off the storm sewers, capturing the water used during power washing, and cleaning the contaminants and vacuuming hazardous and non-hazardous dust and debris, all of which had to be disposed of properly.
With all that in the hands of NADC, Dan Clark says, “We wrote a comprehensive, self-implementing testing plan that was approved by the EPA before we even started. We’re quite proud of our environmental plan for the Saginaw site. Extensive pre- and post-cleaning samples were collected to delineate the extent of any contamination. Everything was delineated, dismantled and hauled off-site for recycling or proper disposal at the appropriate landfills. As a result, an estimate of over 90% of the steel and other building materials for the site were tested and recycled.”
With the remediation and environmental cleaning finalized, NADC completed the demolition of an estimated 20, 000 tons of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, which were processed and prepared for recycling by NADC’s fleet of Caterpillar and Volvo hydraulic excavators, as well as many other types of specialty demolition equipment.
“We were awarded this contract because of our experience, manpower, and strong health and safety records,” says Clark. “Because of the extensive cleanup required, this will be one of our more challenging projects, but I’m confident we’ll do a great job.”
GM’s Saginaw Malleable Iron Foundry, once a thriving manufacturing facility that became contaminated by an array of toxic pollutants, is now in the process of being cleared in an environmentally sound manner with the site being reclaimed by nature, pollutant free, contaminant free and facility free, all with the expertise of NADC.