State raises question of leaks

THE SAGINAW NEWS

It may look like an enormous earthen bathtub one day, but without reinforcement a storage basin for dredge spoils in Zilwaukee and Frankenlust townships won't end up nearly as water tight, state officials say.

Builders, however, say they have plans to plug the tub.

State regulators alerted Saginaw County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in December that the 281-acre disposal site -- once presumed to have a thick, impermeable clay bottom -- is splotched with sand "lenses," documents obtained by The Saginaw News show.

Officials said soil borings had revealed sandy spots, measuring 13 to 18 feet deep, that could allow contaminated water to seep beneath the dikes and escape the basin.

"Numerous sand lenses ... are saturated and have the potential to discharge offsite, either to the wetland to the west or the Saginaw River to the east," the letter reads.

James R. Janiczek, chief of the groundwater permits unit for the state Department of Environmental Quality, wrote that the dump site would need a liner or some other safeguard to keep the spoils on-site.

The letter goes against claims by Saginaw County and Corps of Engineers officials who repeatedly have described the site as "impermeable" and comparable to a big "bathtub."

Saginaw County Public Works Commissioner James A. Koski disputed the state's findings. He said corps experts analyzed the same sand lenses and found that water would not seep offsite. Koski stands behind his earlier statements that the site is impermeable.

This much county, state and Corps of Engineers officials agree on: Saginaw County has proposed improvements to the disposal site that should make it water-tight.

Koski said the Saginaw River Alliance, a coalition of dock owners in the upper Saginaw River, has agreed to pay $2.5 million toward reinforcing the basin's dikes with a soil-bentonite wall -- a layer of impermeable clay imbedded in the dike -- that will extend a dozen feet or more into the ground.

There, the wall will connect with another layer of clay to keep any groundwater from escaping the site.

The county also plans to split the site into four cells to slow the water down and allow any contaminated sediment to settle to the bottom.

Koski said he is "extremely confident" that the dredge spoils aren't going anywhere.

"I live here," he said. "I've lived here all my life. My reputation is at stake if I carry the flag for something I'm not convinced is safe."

Janiczek believes the improvements will keep contaminants on-site. As an extra precaution, however, he said the county will have to install 30 to 70 monitoring wells along the basin's perimeter to make sure that nothing is seeping into the groundwater.

Among the chief environmental concerns is dioxin, a persistent industrial pollutant that scientists have linked to birth defects, weakened immune systems and some forms of cancer in laboratory animals.

Still, environmentalists say they are disturbed by news of the sand lenses, even if county officials have taken steps to fix the problem.

Michelle Hurd Riddick, spokeswoman for the environmental watchdog group Lone Tree Council, said she can't help but wonder if other problems exist.

"Sand lenses are a big deal," she said. "What else don't we know about this site?"

Hurd Riddick reaffirmed her group's position that the Corps of Engineers must conduct a comprehensive environmental impact statement before moving forward with the project.

Corps of Engineers officials maintain that the project, as designed, will avoid any significant environmental impacts.

"It is going to be beyond what is federally required," said corps spokeswoman Lynn Duerod. "It will be above and beyond what is safe." v

Jeremiah Stettler is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9685.