DEQ hearing on new slip

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will let the public comment on a proposed update and expansion of the harbor facilities at the Port of Calcite. The hearing is set for Tuesday, June 9 at 7 p.m. at Rogers City High School with an informal informational session to begin at 6 p.m.

Carmeuse Lime and Stone, along with Wolverine Power Supply, has filed a request with the state for a permit to ?update the harbor and expand on existing facility on Lake Huron to accommodate larger vessels and operational improvements.? THE PERMIT application states approximately 278,920 cubit yards of material will be dredged below the high water mark to ?create an upland boat well and channel, over a total of approximately 988,000 square feet (22.68 acres).

The new boat well will accommodate two 1,000-foot boats, which Wolverine plans to use for a new off-loading facility for delivery of solid fuels to its proposed 600-megawatt power plant. Site of the new slip will be about 1,000 feet southeasterly from the existing slip and immediately southeast from the powerhouse building. Uses of the new slip will be varied, according to the executive summary included in permit application papers.

?The improvements planned within the harbor include creating a new double-wide slip that does not conflict with the existing harbor slip and provides direct access to the main navigational channel, obtaining bottomlands leases, and conducting future maintenance dredging. The harbor improvements will not only increase harbor capacity and efficiency, but also allow for larger

vessels to use the area as a harbor of refuge.? THE SUMMARY submitted to the DEQ said there would be limited impacts on the natural resources in the area, due to the location of the slip. ?Since the site is an existing limestone quarry, the adjacent harbor area is predominately flat and sparsely vegetated.?

Wolverine and O-N Minerals, former owner of the Calcite property, announced three years ago this month of their intention to construct the power plant. Wolverine is currently awaiting word on its air quality permit with the DEQ, the major permit required to proceed to the next step in the process.

Cost estimates are holding at $1.2 billion for plant construction with an average of about 1,000 construction jobs over a four-year period. Once operational, 100 workers will be employed at the power plant with a $6 million payroll, say company spokesmen. It is estimated there will be an additional 133 spin-off jobs created and as many as 285 more employed through the biomass possibilities.