EPA kicks off Rouge River dredging project around Zug Island

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency kicked off an $84 million dredging project in the lower Rouge River around Zug Island this month, aiming to remove the pollution that makes the Rouge one of the most toxic sites in the Great Lakes.

The sediments in the Lower Rouge River Old Channel are contaminated with heavy metals; polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs; and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Those dangerous compounds get into the food web and ultimately fish, which cause health officials to limit the number of fish they recommend people eat from the Rouge and Detroit rivers.

Most of the project funding, $51 million, comes from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Great Lakes Legacy Act, federal programs designed to restore the lakes' environments and accelerate the remediation of contaminated sediment, respectively.

The rest of the funding is from non-federal sponsors, namely North Carolina-based Honeywell, which acquired companies that operated a coking plant, chemical plant and a coal tar plant in the early 20th century. The company spent approximately $28 million on a 2,440-foot sheet pile wall to stabilize the riverbank on the lower Rouge River.

More:Purging the Detroit, Rouge rivers of polluted sediment comes with a hefty price tag

Contaminated sediment plagues much of the Detroit River shoreline from Detroit downstream, where industry took hold long before the Clean Water Act established federal water quality protections in 1972. Oil spills, sewage overflows and industrial discharges poured contaminants into the water, some of which remain in polluted sediment and circulate in the ecosystem.

The Detroit and Rouge rivers both are Areas of Concern (AOC), the designation for Great Lakes sites that Canada and the U.S. both consider significantly impaired by human activity. The EPA announced an aggressive goal of cleaning all of the 25 remaining AOCs by 2030.

Community groups as well as state and federal cleanup workers say the goal presents an enormous challenge, particularly in finding private partners to help fund the work.

The cleanup project in the .75-mile stretch of Old Channel is years in the works. The first phase concluded in 2017, and involved stabilizing the shoreline which threatened to fail during dredging and construction. Still, dredging was paused in 2018 "to address unanticipated site conditions including potential shoreline stability concerns."

Dredging restarted this month. Contractors are conducting site planning. The project is anticipated to be finished in 2025. The EPA anticipates removing 70,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment over 10 acres and will cap another 35,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment.

The Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the 2024 construction season.

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters cheered the EPA's funding announcement and the use of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds. More than $1.4 billion in habitat restoration, research and cleanup projects have been doled out through the GLRI since 2010.

"The Great Lakes are more than just a vital resource for our state, they are simply part of who we are as Michiganders," Peters said in a statement. "It’s critical that we continue to protect them for future generations. I am pleased that funding I helped secure in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is coming to Michigan to help further strengthen our waterways and habitats."

Stabenow described the GLRI, which she worked on at its inception, as "a proven success story."

"This is another example of how this initiative is working in our communities to improve the health of our waters and keep our communities safe," she said.

ckthompson@detroitnews.com