Wednesday, December 22, 2004
JEREMIAH STETTLER THE SAGINAW NEWS
William Webber could find his business up the creek without a paddle.
The Sargent Docks & Terminal Inc. owner says silt buildup threatens to sink shipping along the Saginaw River.
The impact is simple: No barges, no business.
"If we have the same problem with the channel that we had last year, then we won't be able to bring vessels up the river in the spring," Webber said. "It means we're shut down. We're over."
Sargent Docks, a warehousing company for road salt, fertilizers and coal, has thrown its support behind plans to dredge the upper navigation channel of the Saginaw River.
Webber said river-bottom sludge threatens to clog a transportation artery that feeds more than a dozen docks.
The Army Corps of Engineers has proposed a $5.5 million dredging project to scrape more than 3 million cubic yards of sediment from the river bottom. Once completed, the channel would run about 24 feet deep.
What vexes some residents and environmentalists is how the corps intends to handle the muck. The sediment, deemed contaminated after recent sampling, would land in a 281-acre field in Zilwaukee Township.
Throw down the anchor, environmentalists say. They insist the project should go no further until the corps has addressed dioxin contamination that climbed as high as 11,812 parts per trillion.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added its voice to the opposition, saying in a November letter that the corps should resolve the dioxin issue before moving forward.
Meanwhile, the silt is growing.
Capt. Ricky Hebert of the Escanaba-based VanEnkevort Tug and Barge said the river is so shallow near Saginaw Rock Products that ships have spent an entire hour turning around. A typical turn lasts just 15 minutes.
Another ship stalled in the turning basin for six hours last week, Webber said, having lodged itself on a 15-foot sandy shoal.
"We can't haul hardly any product down there," Hebert said. "To turn around and navigate the channel is pretty treacherous. If gets to the point that we can't go down there, it could hurt our customers."
That's what local leaders are worried about.
Saginaw County Public Works Commissioner James A. Koski said mid-Michigan cannot afford to put off the project.
The turning basin at Saginaw Rock Products is on the brink of closure and the rest of the upper Saginaw River channel could follow within two years, he said.
In a Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce publication last March, Koski said a dredging delay could result in layoffs and economic decline for businesses along the river.
"It's a real doomsday scenario," he said.
Koski said river-bottom silt could affect 16 docks and jeopardize 280 jobs directly associated with the upper navigation channel.
Terry Miller, spokesman for the environmental watchdog group Lone Tree Council, agrees that a no-dredge decision could have far-reaching economic implications for mid-Michigan.
But dredging isn't the issue, he said.
"I don't think anyone contests the fact that the river needs to be dredged for commercial reasons," Miller said. "It's the hydraulic methods of stirring up those things and sending them downstream, the location next to the Crow Island State Game Area and how (the sediment) is going to be treated after it's removed."
Koski said the Zilwaukee Township disposal site is sufficient for storing the contaminated sludge. He rejects claims that it could endanger residents.
As for dioxin contamination in the river? It's a concern, but not his.
"Our job isn't to clean the river. It is to dredge it for navigation," Koski said. "The EPA would love to see the dredging and cleanup all in one. But that is not our responsibility." v
Jeremiah Stettler is a staff writer at the Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9685.
© 2004 Saginaw News
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