State Approves $96 Million Harbor Cleanup Facility

Governor Tony Evers signed legislation into law Friday that allows Milwaukee to move forward on a massive harbor cleanup effort. The overarching goal of which is to sufficiently clean up Milwaukee’s waterways so that the federal government removes its “area of concern” designation.

A key piece of the effort is a $96 million, 42-acre facility to collect all of the material collected during the cleanup effort. Senate Bill 425 provides the necessary authority for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to expand its capital budget through 2027 to finance the facility.

Known as the Dredged Material Management Facility (DMMF), the sediment facility will be constructed on the outer harbor just north of a prior facility at 2320 S. Lincoln Memorial Dr. It will be capable of storing up to 1.9 million cubic yards of sediment from the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers.

“Restoring our waterways, erasing a history of pollution and neglect, takes committed partnerships,” said Acting Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson in a statement. “I am so pleased the Governor and legislators have joined on in such a positive way. Not only will the region now have a safe location to deposit dredge material, decades ahead city leaders can determine the best public use for the large swath of newly created harbor-front land.”

The “area of concern” designation was first applied to Milwaukee’s waterways in 1987. It is one of five such areas in Wisconsin. There are 43 designated Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes, including 17 in Canada and seven shared by the US and Canada.

“I’m beyond thrilled to have witnessed a bipartisan show of support for the environment, our rivers, public health, and the economy,” said MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer. “I would especially like to thank the Governor, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and legislative co-authors Senator Dale Kooyenga and Rep. Jessie Rodriguez for their hard work on this bill.”

The tax levy is the primary funding source for MMSD’s capital budget. Its 2022 capital budget is approximately $210 million, with additional funding from bond sales and low-interest loans.

We Energies is leading the design of the DMMF. The City of Milwaukee will ultimately take ownership of it. An earlier facility, located to the south of the proposed DMMF, houses the Lake Express ferry terminal and the South Shore Cruise Dock.

The cleanup effort, now known as the Waterway Restoration Partnership, was first announced in January 2020 and is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. A press release from MMSD says the project partners hope to leverage $260 million in federal resources as part of the larger project. It’s expected the cleanup will take six years to complete and involve the removal of metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other pollutants.

The City of Milwaukee formalized an in-kind commitment toward a $29.3 million first phase in January 2021. The project builds on, and is connected to, a number of other restoration projects including the city’s restoration of the Grand Trunk site and We Energies’ remediation of the Solvay Coke site (now owned by Komatsu Mining).

The Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern encompasses the Inner Harbor and Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers. The area is roughly bounded by E. North Ave. to the north, W. Cleveland Ave. to the south, Lake Michigan to the east and N. 35th St. to the west. An expanded area of concern includes the Milwaukee River to Cedarburg, the Little Menomonee River almost to the Mequon border, and the Kinnickinnic River to Greenfield.