Enbridge Energy can move forward with plans to dredge thousands of truck loads worth of contaminated sediment from the Kalamazoo River - 135,000 cubic yards to be exact.
The cleanup is related to the pipeline company’s 2010 oil spill.
On Monday night, Comstock Township’s planning commission unanimously approved the company’s plans to dredge. The heavy crude oil has broken down and mixed with the river sediment.
Enbridge was supposed to finish dredging contaminated river sediment a couple of months ago, but it failed to meet the deadline in part because the first set of plans it had in Comstock Township were rejected last summer.
The township said the operation was too close to homes and businesses, among other reasons.
About a dozen residents came to the meeting to raise specific concerns about pollution, smells and noise.
But in the end, the concerns were not enough to prevent the temporary operation in a district zoned for heavy manufacturing.
“I do think that this is the best site of all of the ones that we looked at with a minimum amount of impact,” Township Supervisor Ann Nieuwenhuis said. “And what’s most important is that the river is going to get clean.”
“All of the work will be done under the oversight of the federal and state regulators, and any comments or questions or concerns, we’ll do our best to address those as well," Enbridge spokeswoman Lorraine Little said after the vote.
Getting rid of the oiled sediment is key to meeting standards under the federal Clean Water Act.
Enbridge hopes to start work in a month and wrap it up by fall.
