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.

[XLFD]

And City manager Shay has also provided a defense for the City's unilateral decision to fix up this bridge by saying that it provides a secondary means of getting to the bottom half of the Fourth Ward for emergency responses, which is critical if Madison is under construction or washed out as happened in 2008. 

Even if my aged parents lived in the Fourth Ward, I would still have to say this is hogwash.  If Madison was being worked on, it is wide enough now to afford two way traffic when half of the road is blocked.  If another 100 year flood came along, and messed Madison Street up, guess what?  The Fourth Ward is not an island, you can use First and Sixth Street to get out, and emergency response would be minimally affected during the short time it would be out of commission.  Consider, that the PM Fire Department could tend to the fire needs, the LPD could still go around to Old 31 roundabout to get to the Fourth just like they need to always do for the Lake Winds Condo units out on the Buttersville Peninsula, or establish a base of operations out there (like they did during the Metalworks strike), and ambulance services come from First Street, so they would not be affected except for a little longer trip to the hospital, if needed.

Is that inconvenience which may take place for a couple of days in a 100 year period worth the cost of paying out nearly $70,000 per year (in 2013 dollars) for maintaining the Washington Avenue Bridge every forty years?  Consider that the City's own long-term policies since the last bridgework has effectively helped blight the Fourth Ward business district.  The discussion of the pros and cons of the bridge's existence would be interesting to say the least.    

[Willy]

I wouldn't have withdrawn the petition until the silt barriers were up and approved.

[XLFD]

I have to admit that when I read this this morning, my first thought was that the suspect would be a city employee looking for information regarding Ray Karboske Jr.'s plans:   "

Possible break-in suspect inside Ray's Auto Marine, injured

Brian Mulherin - Daily News Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Emergency personnel are at the scene of Ray's Auto Marine this morning trying to assess what happened and to assist a person who may have been injured attempting to break in to the business on South Washington Avenue along the Pere Marquette bayou.
A window is broken, there is damage to a door and other signs of entry.

Ludington police and firefighters, the Mason County Sheriff's Office and Life EMS are at the scene.

A man was taken out on a backboard and transported by ambulance with a neck collar on.

He was discovered by a charter captain who heard moaning and groaning and called for help.

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news/72629-possible-break-in-susp...

 

[Willy]

Just watch, Ray will probably be sued by the injured thief for the injuries and pain he suffered from his attempted larceny.