12/02/06: Gruber's Grove cleanup complete
WNPJ Member group Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger is featured in this report
12/02/06: Gruber's Grove cleanup complete
By Brian Bridgeford, Baraboo News Republic
TOWN OF MERRIMAC — State environmental regulators and the Army's representative at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant announced success this week after removing 60,000 cubic feet of sediment contaminated with heavy metals from Gruber's Grove Bay on Lake Wisconsin.
Local environmental advocate Laura Olah is grateful the work is done, but is concerned mercury contamination could extend beyond the bay. Also, the dredging should have been completed when it was first started in 2001, she said.
The new dredging effort began in July and was completed in early November, said Hank Kuehling, the project manager for the Department of Natural Resources. It removed 60,000 cubic feet of sediment compared to 90,000 feet dredged up in 2001.
According to a statement by the DNR, more than 25 million gallons of wastewater contaminated with mercury, lead and copper were dumped into the bay by BAAP while it made propellants for the Army's weapons between 1942 and 1976.
Kuehling said the DNR required Army officials to clean up the contaminated material because heavy metals like mercury are a threat to tiny bottom-dwelling organisms which are the base of the food chain in the bay.
Kuehling said the contaminants in the sediment were never a threat to local well water or people. The mercury is chemically tied up in the sediment, he said.
"The concern about mercury levels in Gruber's Grove Bay didn't have anything to do with public health," he said. "Mercury levels in the fish did not necessitate fish advisories, at least specific to the bay."
"We're happy to see this finished in this season and we think we did a very good job," said Joan Kenney, the Army's representative at the plant.
Sediment from the bay was pumped into long textile tubes at a specially-prepared site at BAAP that is sealed by a thick plastic membrane. It is being left there for the water to drain out and the water is sprayed on nearby fields, according to the DNR.
In the spring the Army will cover the de-watered sediment with an earthen cap, Kenney said.
The DNR estimates 500 pounds of mercury, 12,000 pounds of copper, 16,000 pounds of zinc and 36,000 pounds of lead were removed during dredging operations from the bay.
Tests of sediment remaining in the bay find it now meets the clean-up target of .36 milligrams of mercury per kilogram, Kuehling said. That standard is based on a "background" level of mercury found in nearby Wiegands Bay, where the Army did not dump wastewater.
"It makes for quite a successful project and we're quite happy with it," he said.
Olah, of Citizens for Safe Water around Badger, said the first dredging effort fell short because the Army contractor didn't remove sediment from close to shore. These are the areas where people and wildlife like aquatic birds are most likely to be exposed to contamination, she said.
"We're pleased they did go back," Olah said. "It took many letters and phone calls and public meetings to convince the DNR there were still problems out there."
Olah said testing of the area around the bay shows mercury contamination may extend beyond it. However the DNR has not required the Army to investigate how far contaminated sediment might go beyond the bay.
"I can't tell you, was there a little bit beyond the dredge area, was there a lot?" Olah said.
Kuehling said the Wisconsin River is exposed to a variety of contaminants from industrial activities along its banks. It is not possible to assign responsibility to the Army for mercury contamination outside of Gruber's Grove Bay.
"The area that we accepted responsibility for was agreed to by the DNR," Kenney said. "So the Army feels it has done what it needs to."
Olah said she would like the DNR to go back in a few years to see if the life cycle in Gruber's Grove Bay has recovered, but they have not agreed to do so. Dredging of the contaminated material is an improvement, she said.
"We're pleased it minimizes exposure (to mercury)," Olah said.
12/02/06: Gruber's Grove cleanup complete
By Brian Bridgeford, Baraboo News Republic
TOWN OF MERRIMAC — State environmental regulators and the Army's representative at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant announced success this week after removing 60,000 cubic feet of sediment contaminated with heavy metals from Gruber's Grove Bay on Lake Wisconsin.
Local environmental advocate Laura Olah is grateful the work is done, but is concerned mercury contamination could extend beyond the bay. Also, the dredging should have been completed when it was first started in 2001, she said.
The new dredging effort began in July and was completed in early November, said Hank Kuehling, the project manager for the Department of Natural Resources. It removed 60,000 cubic feet of sediment compared to 90,000 feet dredged up in 2001.
According to a statement by the DNR, more than 25 million gallons of wastewater contaminated with mercury, lead and copper were dumped into the bay by BAAP while it made propellants for the Army's weapons between 1942 and 1976.
Kuehling said the DNR required Army officials to clean up the contaminated material because heavy metals like mercury are a threat to tiny bottom-dwelling organisms which are the base of the food chain in the bay.
Kuehling said the contaminants in the sediment were never a threat to local well water or people. The mercury is chemically tied up in the sediment, he said.
"The concern about mercury levels in Gruber's Grove Bay didn't have anything to do with public health," he said. "Mercury levels in the fish did not necessitate fish advisories, at least specific to the bay."
"We're happy to see this finished in this season and we think we did a very good job," said Joan Kenney, the Army's representative at the plant.
Sediment from the bay was pumped into long textile tubes at a specially-prepared site at BAAP that is sealed by a thick plastic membrane. It is being left there for the water to drain out and the water is sprayed on nearby fields, according to the DNR.
In the spring the Army will cover the de-watered sediment with an earthen cap, Kenney said.
The DNR estimates 500 pounds of mercury, 12,000 pounds of copper, 16,000 pounds of zinc and 36,000 pounds of lead were removed during dredging operations from the bay.
Tests of sediment remaining in the bay find it now meets the clean-up target of .36 milligrams of mercury per kilogram, Kuehling said. That standard is based on a "background" level of mercury found in nearby Wiegands Bay, where the Army did not dump wastewater.
"It makes for quite a successful project and we're quite happy with it," he said.
Olah, of Citizens for Safe Water around Badger, said the first dredging effort fell short because the Army contractor didn't remove sediment from close to shore. These are the areas where people and wildlife like aquatic birds are most likely to be exposed to contamination, she said.
"We're pleased they did go back," Olah said. "It took many letters and phone calls and public meetings to convince the DNR there were still problems out there."
Olah said testing of the area around the bay shows mercury contamination may extend beyond it. However the DNR has not required the Army to investigate how far contaminated sediment might go beyond the bay.
"I can't tell you, was there a little bit beyond the dredge area, was there a lot?" Olah said.
Kuehling said the Wisconsin River is exposed to a variety of contaminants from industrial activities along its banks. It is not possible to assign responsibility to the Army for mercury contamination outside of Gruber's Grove Bay.
"The area that we accepted responsibility for was agreed to by the DNR," Kenney said. "So the Army feels it has done what it needs to."
Olah said she would like the DNR to go back in a few years to see if the life cycle in Gruber's Grove Bay has recovered, but they have not agreed to do so. Dredging of the contaminated material is an improvement, she said.
"We're pleased it minimizes exposure (to mercury)," Olah said.
Submitted by wnpj on Sat, 12/02/2006 - 12:08pm.