The settlement requires California-based FKI Hardware, which currently owns nine of Keeler Brass Company’s former sites, to investigate if excessive amounts of hazardous substances were released at four of its former Kent County sites once used for metal finishing.
Those sites include three in Grand Rapids and one in Kentwood.
The settlement also requires FKI to work with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy on all investigations and remediation work if contamination levels are found to exceed state criteria.
According to Nessel, state investigators found evidence of trichloroethylene, or TCE, and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, at those sites.
Nessel originally filed the lawsuit against FKI back in 2022. The company will also pay for past and future oversight costs and litigation fees accumulated by the state.
Often called the forever chemical, PFAS has been determined to pose health risks, including cancer, while high concentrations of TCE can cause harmful vapors to seep up into the air inside contaminated buildings.
