Work on the first area of the $25 million project to excavate PCB-contaminated soil near the Otsego Township dam is wrapping up, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials overseeing the work.
On-scene coordinator Paul Ruesch said the staging area on Jefferson Road was in the process of being dismantled as excavation and bank restoration efforts have largely concluded on the first section of work, a 1,760-foot section of the south side of the nearby river.
“Originally, we were hoping to finish work all the way (east) to the M-89 bridge before winter,” Ruesch said, saying despite that they met the EPA goals. “We’re pleased with the progress this year.”
That first area of work stretches east from Pine Creek Dam, near 21st Street.
To date, the project has removed 7,224.55 tons of sediment. Only 103.91 tons of that amount has had a concentration of PCB over 50 parts per million and been hauled to a special EPA landfill on the other side of the state. The rest has been put in Grand Rapids landfill.
PCB, a carcinogenic byproduct of the paper manufacturing process that was dumped into the river, is found in varying concentrations throughout the riverbank.
Overall, the project will address a 1.7-mile stretch of the river between the Otsego Township dam and the M89 bridge. It is expected to excavate 120,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil. The end result is a rebuilt riverbank with a concentration of PCB no higher than 5 parts per billion in the soil.
High concentrations of the contamination were largely rare.
“In that first (area), we basically found one spot with the PCB concentration over 50 parts per million. That’s roughly what we expected.”
He said the excavation area was divided into a grid of 58 sections, each 50 feet long by 20 to 30 feet wide. As each section was excavated, the soil was sampled; 24 hours later, two separate labs would say whether or not the concentration in the soil met was at 5 parts per million or less.
“Only four did not meet that cleanup level and needed to be excavated further down,” Ruesch said. “That makes me pretty confident the pre-design investigation sampling was pretty accurate.”
Next
The next area of work will be directly visible to drivers as they cross the bridge on M-89: it will be 900 feet of riverbank on the south side of the waterway ending at the bridge.
“(That section) is going to be very involved,” he said. “There will be equipment and an excavator floating in the water. There is significant work to be done on the bank and in the stream bed to modify the way water flows through there to reduce water erosion.”
He said the water’s current course was eroding the PCB sediment into the river.
As PCB is added to the river environment, it can collect and concentrate in fish. Fish advisory signs posted throughout the Kalamazoo River warn against eating fish caught in the river.
Over the winter, Ruesch said, crews will be clearing land for future staging areas and temporary roads for equipment to excavate the remaining seven sections of riverbank in the project.
“Neighbors will see a lot of activity,” he said. “Crews will be working with chainsaws and a lot of equipment, creating access to get into these remaining areas we want to work in 2017.”
Work is tentatively scheduled through spring 2018.
The specific work is yet to be determined. That’s because instead of a detailed plan for the entire project being set up prior to work beginning, each segment of the project will inform the next.
“The scope of work (document) is due Dec. 9” for EPA approval, Ruesch said. “The design of the project was to build on successes in previous ones, to incorporate lessons learned into next part.”
Complaints?
Ruesch said complaints about the work have been limited.
“We’d get some from people who weren’t liking being stopped by flaggers on Jefferson, as traffic was stopped for trucks entering or exiting the staging area. But once they were given an explanation, I think they understood,” he said.
He said the only other complaint was from early in preparations for the staging area along Jefferson road.
“They lived nearby, and there was a bulldozer pushing sand and dirt—and it beeps when it’s in reverse,” Ruesch said. “They said they could only take so much of the beeping.
“You know; it was nice weather, windows are open. That sound carries.”
Ruesch said said crew at the site told operators to do their work while driving in reverse less often; the beeping warning is required to meet workplace safety standards.
“But otherwise no complaints,” Ruesch said.
He said a few river-goers disobeyed the “river closed” buoys.
“Some of them were just curious and wanted to get closer to what we were doing; others were part of a community of people trying to meet challenges to paddle every part of rivers and lakes and stuff,” Ruesch said. “No one was ever in any danger; (for this first part of the work) we didn’t take up too much of the river.
“We just advised them it was closed and encouraged them to stay away and they were cool about it.”
Contact Ryan Lewis at rmlewis@allegannews.com or (269) 673-5534.
Cleanup so far, by the numbers:
• total 7120.64 tons of excavated sediments/soils, low concentration (<50 ppm)
• 103.91 tons of excavated sediments/soils higher concentration (>50 ppm)
• 303,075 gallons water treated
.