Environmental safety of Keweenaw Waters Resort questioned by MDHHS

The sign for Keweenaw Waters Resort along Houghton Canal Road. Photo by Joshua Vissers

The Keweenaw Waters Resort development has already begun, a project that will build 24 cabins, 79 hook-up campsites, a boat dock, and a camp store along the Portage Canal in Houghton. The project’s intentions are to provide tourists with a nature-based experience of camping and outdoor recreation, but with the convenience of nearby restaurants and shopping centers of downtown Houghton. The project already received unanimous support from the City of Houghton Council.

However, the acreage allotted for the project lies on stamp sands, which are crushed rocks leftover from the Keweenaw Peninsula’s copper mining period, often containing heavy metals like copper or arsenic.

Some residents are concerned that the Keweenaw Waters Resort development will disturb the stamp sands and cause toxic heavy metals to leach into the Portage Canal, a popular destination for outdoor recreation, as well as host to native fish species and other wildlife.

MICHIGAN SMELTER TAILINGS: PART OF SUPERFUND SITE OU3

A site is determined a Superfund site by the EPA when the federal government grants the EPA with the costs and authority to clean up a contaminated site that has been deemed as hazardous to human health. Because of the area’s historical mining background, there are several Superfund sites throughout the Keweenaw Peninsula.

According to a statement from the EPA, the Keweenaw Waters Resort is located along Portage Lake on stamp sands that are part of the Michigan Smelter area of Operational Unit 3 (OU3) of the Torch Lake Superfund site. 

“During cleanup, a Superfund site can be divided into a number of distinct areas, called Operable Units (OUs), depending on the complexity of the problems associated with the site,” explains Denise Fortin, EPA representative. “The Michigan Smelter tailings are a part of Operable Unit 3 (OU3) of the larger Torch Lake Superfund Site.” 

In 2012, both the Michigan Smelter and Michigan Smelter tailings were partially deleted from the EPA’s National Priorities List with the condition that a 6-inch vegetative cap be maintained to cover the stamp sands. Because hazardous wastes still remain in the area, the EPA conducts periodic reviews at the sites, with the next review scheduled for March 2023.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT HAZARD

However, in September 2022, the Michigan Department of Health collected six samples from the proposed campground property. They concluded, in a 40-page report, that recreational use of the shoreline of the property can be a public health hazard, citing hazardous levels of arsenic, hexavalent chromium, and copper, and subsequent elevated estimated risks of cancer, particularly in children, via skin exposure or accidental ingestion of the sediments.

Keweenaw Waters Resort developer Derek Bradway maintains that the stamp sands are non-hazardous but plans to cover the area with 30 inches of sand to placate concerns.

“This is where I live, where I raise my family. We don’t take any chances,” Bradway said. “We are going to further bury it, not that there is a problem.”

Bradway argues that the basis for studies used by the Michigan Health Department were flawed, one reason being as they were based on a scenario where campers stayed at the Resort for 21 days a year over several years, and further comments that “the possibility of unearthing and eating the stuff buried multiple feet below our cover for years is crazy.”

The report contains information on several exposure levels and durations.

The Keweenaw Waters Resort, which already has five cabins built, with more underway. Photo by Joshua Vissers

While Bradway proposes to implement more soil cover on the property, the Michigan Health Department points out there has been no discussion about how the cover will be maintained after construction activities end. The Health Department recommends a long-term plan to cover exposed sediments, as well as signage warning recreators of the risks, and other harm-reduction tactics.

The EPA is in the process of reviewing the MDHHS public health evaluation of the proposed Keweenaw Waters Resort.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The US Army Corps of Engineers published a public notice (below) regarding the Keweenaw Waters Resort in order to open up the floor for public comments, both positive and negative, on proposed work along the shoreline. Requests should be e-mailed to Kristi.M.DeFoe@usace.army.mil, but must include a name and mailing address.

Requests can also be submitted in writing to:

Kerrie E. Kuhne
Chief, Western Section
Regulatory Branch
Corps of Engineers, Detroit District
477 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48226-2550

The public commentary period ends March 7, 2023.