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The Western Upper Peninsula Health Department has issued a health warning for the area around the Julio scrap yards along the Ripley waterfront.
State officials recently analyzed samples taken from the area. They found a long list of potentially harmful materials, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s), lead, mercury, and asbestos.
Of particular concern was the discovery of asbestos in the soil around the ORV trail that passes by the scrapyards. Vehicles using the trail can loft dust into the air. Microscopic asbestos fibers can stay suspended in the air for a long time, and can be inhaled without noticing. Once they’re in your lungs, their barbed shape lodges in the tissue, and they stay there. This can cause lung damage, asbestosis, and cancer.
The Health Department is asking all people to stay away from the Julio scrapyards until further notice, and not to use the sections of the ORV trail that run through or adjacent to the property. The scrapyards include several properties located about a third of a mile east and west of the Julio Contracting office on M-26.
Western Upper Peninsula Health Department officials have begun working with local, state and federal partners to reach a long-term solution.
For more information about the situation, call the Health Department at 482-7382. For health-related questions, call the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services at 800-648-6942.
