Posted on February 13, 2018
By Peter J. Devlin, Green Bay Press Gazette
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approval could come within a month to allow Roen Salvage to dispose of dredging in a disused town of Sturgeon Bay sand and gravel quarry, a DNR Hydrologist said Wednesday.
The DNR’s Jackie Marciulionis conducted the 30-minute session where a handful of interested parties discussed the plan to transfer around 11,000 tons of material from Roen’s property at 180 E. Redwood St. in the city of Sturgeon Bay to the former Mikels Quarry, west of Door County U, between Lake Lane and Silverdale Drive in the town of Sturgeon Bay.
The material would be removed from behind an existing seawall at Roen’s dock, for construction of a new wall, according to the company’s Project Engineer, Barry Kuzay who approached the Sturgeon Bay Town Board last May.
“It’s not hazardous material,” Kuzay said last year.
The excavation would be on land that’s several feet from the existing water’s edge and the soil has been tested.
However, the DNR considers it dredged material, requiring disposal in a certified site.
The quarry meets the DNR criteria, Kuzay said.
The quarry property is owned by Ivan Bissen. It was last mined several decades ago and was shut down before current reclamation laws went into effect. The Roen dredging would restore a portion of the land to pre-mining conditions.
Those attending Wednesday’s meeting included: Kuzay; another Roen representative; Bissen; Sturgeon Bay Town Chairman Dan Cihlar; Door County Board Supervisor Susan Kohout, whose district includes the quarry site; and Door County Soil and Water Conservationist Greg Coulthurst.
Hydrologist Marciulionis lead the discussion. Also attending, the department’s Kristin Dufresne, Waste & Materials Management Program Supervisor for the state’s Northeast region.
There could be a low level of mercury in the material, Marciulionis said, prompting Kohout to say she was concerned that a record should be maintained to assure the quarry site would be safe for residential development in the 22nd century.
Cihlar said he had a similar concern.
“When we’re issuing these approvals, we’re always making sure that whoever is placing the material is providing us with information … so that we can eventually enter that into a tracking system,” Marciulionis said.
Accurate tracking is the responsibility of the property owner, she said.
Marciulionis said when the meeting ended, a decision is likely between a week and a month from now.
Source: Green Bay Press Gazette
