Local Marina Seeks Injunction Against Planned Washington Bridge Work

[XLFD]

Ray Karboske Jr., who runs Ray's Auto Marine with his father Ray Sr., is seriously worried about the consequences of the rehabilitation of the Washington Avenue Bridge, scheduled to begin in earnest during the week of June 10.  His marina situated between Washington and Madison Streets on the north side of the Pere Marquette Lake inlet will likely be affected by the limited access due to the construction, but that isn't chief among those worries.  His worries deal more with the unsettling of the bottom of the lake being planned for the project, the lack of a plan for dealing with this unsettlement, and his knowledge of what lies beneath the waters in that area of the lake inlet.

                                          The Washington Avenue Bridge as it currently sits

These are not unfounded worries, Ray contends.  At his own expense, he had his own area surveyed by Trace Laboratories recently at six spots, including one within a few yards of the existing bridge, and the results were  dismal.  According to the survey, he was advised that each tested site was very contaminated, much of which may have been as a result of the 2008 rupture of the sewer main serving 90% of Ludington households during the June flooding of that year, and dumping untreated sewage into the inlet until it was fixed.  From that same storm alone, plenty of other dangerous materials also found its way into that area with all the runoff coming from nearby contaminated sites.  That inlet has been pretty much untouched since then.

 

According to Ray, he has talked with City Hall and discovered that they plan to have the pilings of the bridge pulled out and then replaced in the rehab of the Washington Avenue Bridge.  This greatly affects the bottom of the inlet in the immediate area, and will blanket the surrounding areas with the sediment they'll uproot and displace.   He was told by Trace Labs, that due to the test results he got back from them, he shouldn't do anything that would disturb the bottom of the lake inlet, because of the release of the toxins contained at the lake bottom.  One should wonder whether the city employee who also is a Trace Labs executive, will step forward and protest the proposed protocols to be utilized in this construction.

 

The City of Ludington has scheduled over $200,000 of dredging at the City Marina this year to accommodate boat traffic for the Queen's Cup races.  They have reportedly scheduled spending nothing to dredge the poisons that exist underneath the Washington Avenue Bridge, so that the rest of Pere Marquette Lake and its adjoining bodies of water (including Lake Michigan), would not get cross-contaminated by the construction. 

 

Ironically, the Queen's Cup racers that come to Ludington at the end of this month will likely get to experience the noxious soup stirred up by the contractors of this bridge project, particularly since they will be 'downstream' of it while staying at other local marinas. 

 

Red:  Washington Bridge, Yellow:  Contamination from 2008 by Madison Sewer Main Collapse/runoff, Orange:  Routes of 2013 contamination if the construction process goes ahead as planned. 

 

To be sure, Ray Karboske is concerned about how the health of himself and his family will be affected, and of how much worse his property will be contaminated, and the eventual cost of his own cleanup being exacerbated by the construction.  But beyond his own concerns, he expressed his general concerns of all of Ludington and their visitors this year, for the stirring of this corrupted soup may very well put the public at danger for swimming and other water activities along the lake (particularly at Stearn's Park) or anywhere in the Pere Marquette Lake. 

 

If it is unacceptable and potentially criminal for Mr. Karboske to disturb the inlet's bottom because of toxins, why is a project funded by Federal, State, and Local public dollars get a free pass to do so and put our community at risk?  This is what has driven him to seek an injunction to stop this project until the risks are mitigated through properly dredging the immediate area around the Washington Bridge.  Because the City is allegedly dragging its collective feet, and because he has found no expedient relief from the State as of yet, he has filed the injunction presented here.  For all of our sakes, let's hope that political expediency will not trump the public's safety.  As you can see, this was filed earlier today.  Be sure to support this effort to keep Ludington from being further corrupted, this time environmentally.

 

Read more about why the Washington Bridge Project may be redundant.

[AQUAMAN]

Ray Jr. and I are on the same page on this one. We are both friends, and friendly competitors in Ludington. The injunction is necessary and meaningful, but will the COL and old Judge Cooper see this for it's truth and dangers? I have yet to see this judge make decisions about the COL or Mason County without prejudice and impartiality, always favoring the governing authorities, irregardless the consequences to the public at large. As Mike Wadel said in the readers forum, it's a total waste of time and money for this bridge to be rebuilt, and at such a high expense.

[XLFD]

Excellent idea, Eastwick, many of the private marine owners around these parts are on the same boat, to turn a phrase, in the potential environmental impact of the construction, and on the City's indifference and past actions. 

Let's not forget, the City of Ludington is a competitor against these private marinas and is afforded many benefits that gives them great advantages over the private marinas.  This includes such benisons of State money recently of $56,000 for engineering and dredging, over $400,000 of State DNR money for the transient docks (also engineered against the safety of the public, i.e. the death of Lingyan Zou), and other perks unknown to private marinas.  

The City of Ludington also will benefit financially when the workers make the lower part of Pere Marquette Lake into a poisonous broth of contaminants and muddy the waters for these competing businesses at the same time as the Queen's Cup boaters arrive, and decide to stay at the Municipal Marina upstream where the water will look more clean, or at the Harbor View Marina, which is slated to become part of our municipal marina system in the near future. 

Isn't it grand to have the government be your main competitor in this free market system we are supposed to have?  That's one reason why not only should all marina owners should "stand with Ray", but all members of our community that are worried about such situations. 

[XLFD]

Also, I had the opportunity to meet both Rays yesterday and were impressed with their ideas, their sincerity, their dedication, their concerns.  He wouldn't go out and stand in front of the rolling tanks without a darn good reason, in my opinion.

[Willy]

Isn't an environmental impact report required before this type of work can be done? Anyone with any common sense knows that disturbing the bottom will raise all sorts of debris and contaminants. Why hasn't the City taken this into consideration? Ray makes a valid point about the beaches near the outlet of the harbor and further up the Coast which may become contaminated by the poisens that are stirred up. How about the affects on the fishery. This lagoon has been the recipient of run of and drainage for many years and I would not be surprised if some of the contaminates are carcinogenic. Good for Ray for taking a stand. It seems to me that the Charter Boat association should jump on board this cause because it will definitely have an affect on their business.

[AQUAMAN]

I fully support any injunction that will at least sample and test the bottom before the construction phases take place. The only problem is the MC Court, that may pass judgement in haste, and therefore, create more toxic waste, and may not care about the consequences. Simply, because it's another governmental project, and afterall, the judge is part of the system that he get's a paycheck from, even though I understand his pay has been cut to the bone, for such painful mistakes of interpretations of law in the recent past. This guy doesn't even disqualify himself until the 11th hour, when he in fact, knows well in advance, he's got a direct and indisputable conflict of family interest in a case before him. It's not only shameful, but should be punishable by the powers in Lansing for disbarment, but, that just doesn't happen nowadays. Shameful and incredibly illegal, and totally immoral acts keep happening in MC, and for all toooooooo looooong.

[easymoney]

just because the of Ludington wants it, doesn't make it right

[AQUAMAN]

I just received this letter to the USCOE and DEQ tonight on the current situation building on "the bridge to nowhere", (see attachment). It's quite informative and also a revelation about the work, and LACK of safety/protocol about to begin. Looks like we need all the community support we can muster, before the cluster. Contamination as this is portrayed, is quite serious indeed, for years to come in PM Lake. I for one, want some answers, don't you? (Note the CC to Shyster Shay, the CM.) Will he duck the issues? Or face reality? Or earn his money the easy way as usual?

[XLFD]

There is an amazing amount of unity out there among the immediately affected parties by this excavation.  These people may have various opinions on the rehab of the bridge, but most are united in that it should be done in an environmentally safe manner, and most are scared that they will not be.  City Manager John Shay's reaction in the MCP and the COLDNews show that he is fairly indifferent to these concerns as long as he has secured the needed permits, one from a Michigan DEQ branch that appears to have no clue as to the eco-history of the area and the most recent surveys. 

[XLFD]

I am going to do something that I rarely do, and congratulate the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) for doing an informative article about this sediment bomb about to go off next week.  On Thursday, both Rob Alway and Steve Begnoche did a reasonably fair review to the petition Ray Karboske filed on Wednesday.  Begnoche devoted quite a few column inches and devoted a bit of research into getting more information out there, and in a manner that was not demonstrably prejudicial against Ray's cause.  Kudos to Steve Begnoche for showing some savvy (pay especial attention to the orange and read underlined and boxed information):

 

[masonco]

Did I see correctly they drop the lawsuit?

[XLFD]

Yes, as Jane says, they are going to use a silt partition, and the injunction petition has been lifted, saving Ray a cool $150. 

Even though they do mitigate most of the contamination spread, anyone who has seen these silt shields in action know that they aren't 100% effective in containing sediment during dredging operations.  You can check out the dredging going on just west of Thompson's Marina at the Yacht Club has a silt shield but even so, the water is very muddied in the nearby waters.  There will be some cross-contamination, and if the City of Ludington can't get the companies that are originally responsible for the initial contamination of this area which led to the high amounts of carcinogens in that areas substrate, they really should dredge the toxins out in the public's interest.  It would be a lot cheaper and beneficial to the community than fixing up the Washington Bridge.

[Jane]

looks like they are AGREEING to use some silt barricades and Karboske has withdrawn his petition.