The multi-million dollar dredging project for Manistique's harbor looks to be moving forward.
Read more: Local, Environment, Dredging, Manistique, Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, DEQ
MANISTIQUE -- The multi-million dollar dredging project for Manistique's harbor looks to be moving forward. Tuesday night, city officials were given the word they could be receiving federal funding for the much needed project, which means the city won't have to pay a cent.
Tuesday night, local officials met with members of the Army Corps of Engineers, DEQ, and the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office. If all goes well with final analysis of the sediment over the next few weeks, the city looks to get two million dollars of federal funding through the Army Corps.
The entire project looks to remove 110,000 cubic yards of sediment from a portion of the channel in Manistique's harbor. It's a task that's been in the making for years.
"This will benefit us greatly," said Manistique's Mayor, David Peterson. "Right now, it's a problem getting through there. Recreational boaters, commercial fishermen--this will greatly help them by making the depth of the channel significantly deeper."
The plan is to get the waterway down to between 12 and 12 1/2 feet. It's been almost a decade since the last time it was dredged, and officials expect this project will last another 10 years.
"It's a two million dollar, roughly two million dollar project at no cost to the city, and it's a great opportunity for the city to get this done," Peterson said.
Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers hope all goes well with the plans since they're putting a lot of money and effort behind the project.
"There was six million allocated for regional funding for dredging within the state of Michigan," explained Chief of Operations for the Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit, Wayne Schloop. "There were 30 projects that were actually included as possible candidates for Michigan's six million, and we're down, somewhere on the list right now; we have about 12 candidates and this one is one of the larger ones."
If all goes as planned, officials hope to begin the project by late next summer. They expect it'll take about two months to complete.
