Village to make sledding hill out of excavation waste

Village officials are attempting to turn lemons into frozen lemonade by taking unwanted material from the Grand River Greenway excavation work, capping it and sculpting it into a recreational sledding hill. While carving the nonmotorized path through the wetlands west of School Street earlier this month, contractors discovered trace amounts of metals and chunks of concrete in the soil. The cost of hauling the 650 cubic yards of material to a qualified landfill would have cost an estimated $80,000, according to environmental consultants.

Marie Havenga

Spring Lake

Aug 31, 2011

Sculpting the soil into an 8- to-12-foot-tall sledding hill will cost about $20,000, Village Manager Ryan Cotton said.

A sledding hill was the third highest priority in the village’s recreational plan, based on surveys of village residents.

Cotton said environmental consultants said the material is not hazardous or carcinogenic — but, to err on the side of caution, the plan is to cap the sledding hill with a foot of impervious clay and topsoil.

The excavated soil is known as “historical fill,” officials said — meaning that the wetland area was once used as a dumping ground by previous generations. Years ago, wetlands were known as swamps and not considered valuable.

The hill will be created on upland just east of Village Cove Marina in the Mill Point Park Preserve.

To read more of this story, see today’s print or e-edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.

Comments

ace212sail

Wed, 08/31/2011 - 2:17pm

"Carving through wetlands..." How in the world did the DNR ever allow this to happen!! Mill Point Park Preserve? Preserve WHAT? This project is the saddest thing ever. Where nature smiles for seven miles? Not any more.