Originally published by the Western Dredging Association (WEDA).
The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) presented its 2023 Environmental Excellence Award for Innovation to the Howards Bay Navigation and Cleanup Dredging Project, which is located within the St. Louis River Area of Concern (SLRAOC) in Superior, Wisconsin, and is an integral part of the Port of Duluth-Superior. J.F. Brennan Company (Brennan) partnered with Arcadis and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to work on the Howards Bay Remediation Project using innovative methods to secure a positive outcome.
A partnership of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), Fraser, and the City of Superior (City) was organized through the Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) to co-fund and achieve this project.
Howards Bay Remediation Project Wins Environmental Excellence Award for Innovation
The Howards Bay Remediation Project, with a total dredge area of over 50 acres, involved two phases over two consecutive seasons and aimed to remove legacy contamination from the shipyard, port, and municipal outfalls and to improve water quality and habitat. The team overcame many challenges throughout the project to successfully initiate the work. Logistical challenges associated with work in an active shipyard in a public waterway and multiple contractors on-site posed many safety concerns. Brennan, USACE, and Fraser Shipyards established effective communication and coordination early to avoid mishaps. A moored and non-operational 730 FT bulk freighter, the SS Edward L. Ryerson, had to be repositioned multiple times to access several dredge areas, and the team had to ensure that those moves were performed safely without incurring any lost-time incidents, injuries, or damage to property or equipment.
Throughout the project, constant innovation, communication, and timely re-thinking between Brennan, project partners, Arcadis, and subcontractors were crucial to success. In some areas, site conditions varied between the pre-dredge design sampling period and those encountered during dredging four years or more later. While the project included numerous unforeseen challenges, all parties involved upheld the ultimate goal of providing leadership and teamwork to address these concerns while maintaining a strict completion window. The original scope changed during construction, involving input and coordination with all project partners. The team collaborated on design alternatives and work plans for the backfill design, recovery of the sunken fish tug, A.E. Clifford, and oil sheen control within the harbor.
The successful completion of this project is a significant milestone in de-listing remediation concerns within the SLRAOC, contributing to an important goal of the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Restoration of navigational depths and providing a healthy ecological environment not only helped improve conditions in the harbor system but will also have a lasting impact on the community by supporting the future of Fraser Shipyards, an important local employer. The project involved nearly 100 personnel working toward the same goal. Many local companies in the Duluth-Superior area provided services to the project, from material hauling and cement import companies to soil stabilization and sand import vendors. Participating in this work so close to home gave them all a personal stake in the project's success.
Brennan recognized for another award as the Spirit Lake Sediment Remediation project, received the Environmental Excellence Award for Partnership and Outreach/Education.
WEDA's 2023 Environmental Excellence Award for Partnerships and Outreach/Education was presented to the Spirit Lake Sediment Remediation Project in the St. Louis River in Duluth, Minnesota. The project was executed by a team comprising EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC. (EA), BARR Engineering and AECOM, and J.F. Brennan, in cooperation with the Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) within the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and their project partner, the United States Steel Corporation (USS).
The Spirit Lake Sediment Remediation Project is within the Saint Louis River Area of Concern (SLRAOC) and is being completed under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) as a cost-share partnership between USEPA and the United States Steel Corporation (USS), with each entity providing a portion of the funds to complete the project. This is a priority project within the SLROAC to address historical releases of sediment within Spirit Lake, located in the St. Louis River upstream of Lake Superior and in onshore areas. Project construction began in 2020; remediation is complete, and the project is in the third and final construction season to complete the habitat restoration component. The Completion of the project will support the eventual de-listing of the Beneficial Use Impairments (BU ls) currently in place for the Spirit Lake area.
This project fulfills the criteria for the Partnerships and Outreach/Education Award including significant environmental benefits from pairing a large-scale sediment remediation project using a combined technology approach with extensive habitat restoration and creation of new open water; a partnership structure working group; collaboration through feasibility, design, pre-design investigations, permitting, and design modifications and construction with federal, state, and local agencies and tribes; unique approaches using engineering with nature.
to enhance the existing habitats and create a new dynamic back-bay system; development and implement a detailed community outreach plan, including the formation of a dedicated Outreach Team and regular engagement with residents; and strategies and lessons learned that can be readily applied to future remediation and restoration projects in other AOCs.
The partnership and outreach methods implemented at Spirit Lake demonstrated and continue to demonstrate the success of a proactive and adaptive collaboration strategy with regulatory agencies, residents, and other project stakeholders while simultaneously meeting the remedial goals and desired final habitat conditions for the AOC project. The key elements of this project partnership could readily be applied to similar sediment remediation and habitat restoration projects.
About J.F. Brennan Company
J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan) is a fourth-generation, family-owned marine construction firm specializing in environmental remediation, dam construction, commercial dive, harbor management, and submarine cable services. Working closely with public and private owners of water-based infrastructure since 1919, Brennan operates nationwide throughout coastal and inland waterways, maintaining a large fleet of marine equipment backed by maritime professionals.
