SITE HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION THE WEST KL AVE. LANDFILL SITE IS LOCATED IN KALAMAZOO CNTY, MI. APPROX. 7 MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN. THE SITE OCCU- PIES APPROX. 87 ACRES AND IS SITUATED WITHIN A RURAL-RESIDEN TIAL AREA. TWO SMALL LAKES, BONNIE CASTLE LAKE, 200FT NE, AND DUSTIN LAKE, ONE MILE EAST OF THE LANDFILL, ARE THE MA- JOR SURFACE WATER BODIES IN THE AREA. IN ADDITION, THE LAND FILL IS SITUATED ATOP 2 AQUIFERS. A SHALLOW AQUIFER IS LOCA TED 20 TO 60 FT BELOW THE SURFACE SEPARATED BY THICK CLAY- RICH TILL FROM A DEEPER AQUIFER. THE WEST KL AVE LANDFILL WAS ORIGINALLY OWNED AND OPERATED BY OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP FROM THE EARLY 1960'S TO 1968 AS THE LO- CATED DUMP. THE SITE WAS OPERATED AS AN OPEN DUMP DURING THIS TIME FRAME. IN MAY 1968, KALAMAZOO CNTY ACQUIRED THE SITE FOR USE AS THE CNTY-WIDE LANDFILL. THE ORIGINAL DUMP WAS ON A 20 ACRE PARCEL. THE CNTY ACQUI RED ADD'L LANDS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ORGINAL PARCEL TO FORM THE PRESENT 87 ACRE SITE. THE SITE WAS OPERATED BY THE KALA MAZOO CNTY BUREAU OF PUBLIC WORKS (KCBPW) (AND CONTRACTED OUT TO TWO PRIVATE COMPANIES) UNDER LICENSES ISSUED BY THE MICHIGAN DEPT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (MDNR) FROM 1968 THROUGH 1974, AND CONTINUED OPERATION TO MAY 1979 WITHOUT LICENSES. AN ESTIMATED FIVE MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF RESIDENTIAL, COM- MERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES, INCLUDING SIGNIFICANT BULK LIQUID AND DRUMMED CHEMICAL WASTES, WER