Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute will receive an international award for its role in the successful cleanup of Muskegon's Ruddiman Creek, a contaminated site on the federal Great Lakes Legacy Act targeted list.
On Monday, November 27, the award will be presented by representatives of the international State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference. The event will be held at 6 p.m. at the Michigan Alternative Renewable Energy Center, 200 Viridian Drive, Muskegon.
Other award recipients involved in the project include Muskegon Lake Public Advisory Council, Ruddiman Creek Task Force, City of Muskegon, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The Muskegon Lake Public Advisory Committee will host an afternoon walking tour of the Ruddiman Creek cleanup sites, with representatives from EPA and MDEQ from 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Rick Rediske, an environmental chemistry researcher at AWRI, located in Muskegon, first began investigating sediment contamination in Ruddiman Creek in 1996. He said the pollution resulted from industrial dumping of chemicals begun in the 1930s.
"We always knew the sediment contamination was a problem," said Rediske, "but we were surprised at how extensive it was at both the headwaters and the pond."
A group of local residents, spearheaded by Teresa Bernhardt, began lobbying government officials. In 1998, Rediske spoke about Ruddiman Creek at a regional conference with the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. It caught their interest because it runs through a residential area. After the cleanup project made it to the state's priority list in 2002, funding became available.
Over nine months, Ruddiman Creek cleanup crews removed 90,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment that contained 126,000 pounds of lead, 2,800 pounds of cadmium, 204,000 pounds of chromium and 320 pounds of PCBs. The project was completed on May 15, 2006. Under the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002, 65 percent of the $6.9 million cleanup costs were paid for with federal funds. The other $3.7 million, or 35 percent, was paid from the state's Clean Michigan initiative.
For more information contact the Annis Water Resources Institute at (231) 728-3601 or (616) 331-3479.
