Dredging needs to be done completely

ONE THIRD OF A century is a long time to live with anything bad.

Yet, that’s how long Sheboygan and Sheboygan County has been living with the knowledge that the sediment in the Sheboygan River is polluted with harmful levels of polychlorinated biphenyls.

That has impacted the recreational and tourist value of the river and the harbor negatively since the PCBs were first discovered in the river bottom in 1976.

That discovery led to an advisory against eating fish caught in the river, fish that had high levels of the toxic chemical in their bodies. For more than three decades that has negatively impacted the fishing industry and tourism in the county.

Additionally, the presence of PCBs in the river bottom precluded any dredging of the river and harbor, as had been done frequently in the past to maintain channels for safe boat passage. The fear was that dredging would spread the contaminated sediments and that those sediments could not be disposed of safely.

Efforts to clean up the river were hampered over determinations of who caused the PCB contamination, who was responsible and who was going to pay.

Now, an agreement is in place to pay for cleaning up the most-heavily contaminated sediments and dispose of them safely, an effort that has already been completed in Sheboygan Falls, without using taxpayer or local funds.

But that dredging will not return the river and harbor to the depths they enjoyed half a century ago and more. That depth would allow charter and pleasure boating far up the river, spur development of riverfront properties throughout the city, and would even allow Lake Michigan cruise boats to dock in Sheboygan, allowing their passengers to visit the city and county, bringing a welcome influx of tourist dollars to the local economy.

To dredge to that depth, however, will require the local community to put up funds to match a federal grant.

The price tag is not cheap. Initial estimates are that the local match will be anywhere from $3 million to $8 million.

The match can come in donations of service and material to the effort. The money can come from local governments; private citizens, groups or foundations; or even a series of the world’s largest brat frys.

Local officials are working diligently to find a way to finance the local match amount, recognizing full well the tremendous boost to the local economy a restored, fully dredged river and harbor can provide. They have time to complete their work, as such a second phase dredging would not be done until 2011.

Here’s hoping their efforts are successful, that funds can be found to complete the dredging, and that the Sheboygan River can be restored to its former glory and grandeur.

At issue: Something or other Bottom line: Do something about it