Clean Up Lingers After 45 Years at Michigan’s Contaminated ‘Temple of Doom’ Site

It was 1979 that a chemical company agreed to a settlement to 'permanently' clean up a hazardous waste site north of Muskegon on the shores of Lake Michigan. Nearly a half-century later, an environmental 'Temple of Doom' remains.

The Washington Post reported in October of 1979 on a landmark agreement between the government and Hooker Chemical to clean up the site in Montague that had been leaking pesticides into the surrounding ground water. The $15 million settlement was the largest of its kind at the time.

The site today has several landfills, a lake taken over by chemical run-off, a mound of buried contaminates that gives the site the Temple of Doom nickname, and a giant lime deposit. Reporting as recent at the summer of 2023 focuses on residents pushing for site clean-up.

A drone photographer shared recent images of the site to the Abandoned, Old and Interesting in Michigan Facebook group.

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"Temple of Doom" at Hooker Chemical housing 1 million tons of contaminated soil

Limestone dump from DuPont,

an artificial lake full of contaminants,

and the remains of DuPont

Montague Lime Pit

Read More:  Nothing Was Left but an Unbroken Mirror After Demolition of the Kalamazoo Sanitarium

Abandoned Chemical Facility

Temple of Doom Landfill