Public Meeting Held for Proposed Landspreading Within Town of Waterford

Opponents and proponents alike came together Nov. 14 at the Town of Waterford Municipal Building to listen to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources proposed Dredge Material Landspreading from the Fox River.

Addressing the concern that the navigable waters of the Fox River and its canal systems have suffered from upstream sediments, the DNR proposes to draw down the river and dredge out the excess deposits. Those deposits when removed from the river bottom, will need to be relocated and a concern exists on where and at what costs to the surrounding areas by many of the town’s residents.

The applicant, Waterford Waterway Management District, has requested approval from the DNR for a landscaping facility to landspread sediments dredged from the Fox River onto agricultural fields within the Town of Waterford and the DNR owned lands.The meeting was held to summarize the DNR’s andWaterford Waterway Management District’s plan and then opened the floor for public comment for roughly 30 minutes to wrap the meeting up within an hour.

While the 9,300 cubic yards of deposit will be distributed throughout 85 acres of state-owned land, the sediments will not be placed within 100 feet of a navigable waterbody, nor will it be within 1,000 feet of public wells or within 200 feet of private wells attribute. Matrise also said that residents who live on the neighboring properties of the state-owned lands need not be concerned of the deposits because they would not be spreading the sediments within 500 feet of a residential property without proper consent.

Matrise continued to stress that the disposal would not have a significant or adverse impact on the wetlands nor would it place any harm on threatened or endangered species that may call the surrounding Tichigan Wildlife Area home. While discussing that the sediment would have raised nitrogen levels, Matrise did state that the deposits had also been tested for metals and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs and had been found to be at low and acceptable levels and would not affect the quality of surface waters or the quality of drinking water.

In addition to the landspreading plan, the DNR has proposed a dewatering pond that measures approximately eight-acres. This proposed dewatering pond will be able to hold 75,000 cubic yards of disposal and the surface water will be pumped back to the neighboring Tichigan Lake. This process will require a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit.

Also included with the dewatering pond, there will be four groundwater monitoring wells that will continue to test for any possible rises in nitrogen or PCB levels at each corner of the property effected by the sediment landspreading.

Matrise finished up his presentation before taking questions and statements with a timetable of this project beginning in the Spring of 2019and being completed by the Fall of 2020.

Connie Randa, a very concerned citizen of Waterford, spoke up about the wildlife that may be impacted by this project.“There is no concern for wildlife here,” said Randa. “The deer could get caught in that muck. Even children running through the property could be at harm. Do you plan on building a fence to prevent this?”

The DNR representatives did say that there is not a fence planned in this proposal.

Tom Cerny stood up before the crowd and seemed very concerned that the proposal had the sediment deposits being placed directly behind his residence, but it was wife, Sharon, that seemed to mediate a neutral standing between her husband’s concern and residents wishing to see better navigable waters.

“I know the people on the river are suffering,” said Cerny. “But at our expense?”

Commenting on the lack of navigable water at his dock and in Tichigan Lake, an unnamed person made the comment that it was well past the time for the DNR to address this issue and that this dredging should have happened years ago.Also concerned with the dredged-out sediments and its spreading on state owned lands, Tracy Mustad commented on the potential mosquito population increase with a snide reply from a proponent across the room stating it wouldn’t be any worse than he was already dealing with at his residence with the low water levels.

Bringing the meeting back to order and closing the comment period, Matrise finished up by stating that the DNR did not want to leave any negative impacts on the community and that they would address all concerns while considering the proposal.