KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A long-toxic stretch of land in Kalamazoo has been removed from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list, a compilation of the nation’s most contaminated sites.

Allied Paper Inc. is located between Cork Street and East Alcott Street near the Kalamazoo River, which has historically been used as an energy source and waste disposal site for Allied Paper Inc. and the surrounding communities.

Nearby is Operable Unit 2, which was an Allied Paper Inc. landfill that produced carbonless paper contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a chemical that has been shown to cause cancer in animals.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), these PCBs were identified as an environmental risk in the Kalamazoo River as early as the early 1970s.

Twenty years later, in 1990, the area was added to the EPA’s Superfund list.

On Friday, however, the EPA removed a six-acre portion of the former Allied Paper Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River Superfund landfill, about six months after first proposing the relocation in February.

According to the EPA, cleanup work has been completed in two areas of the former landfill.

This includes an area east of Davis Creek and a non-easement portion of the area east of the Davis Creek extension area, excluding the sewer and unfenced telephone line easement, officials said.

“For many years, the community of Kalamazoo has had to deal with pollution resulting from the area’s industrial past,” said Debra Shore, EPA Region 5 Administrator. “Achieving this milestone brings us one step closer to restoring this valuable ecosystem and finally ridding the community of legacy pollution.”

In addition to Davis Creek and nearby waters without easements, officials from EPA and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) also cleaned up three of six operational units listed on the Superfund list.

According to Shore, regular inspections are carried out and the restored banks and vegetation are maintained.