The International Association of Dredging Companies’ (IADC) latest edition of their Terra et Aqua magazine featured a very interesting article named ‘Former Zephyr Refinery: Fire suppression ditch area project’.
Situated in Muskegon, Michigan, the project provided numerous environmental benefits related to the remediation of legacy sediment contamination as well as restoration of the habitat into a more diverse wetland system.
The Zephyr site, located in a mixed industrial, commercial, and residential area, included sediment areas with hazardous levels of lead, involved organic sediments with highly variable moisture content, and confronted historically high water levels during construction.
This presented numerous logistical and technical challenges.
The project team maintained continuous contact throughout the construction in order to efficiently respond to these challenges while including all stakeholders in the discussions which resulted in a successful wetland restoration that will benefit the site owners and the community at large.