Extensive contamination at the former Sappi paper mill site on Muskegon Lake has gained renewed attention since a developer recently announced a major plan to repurpose the 122-acre property with housing, retail and public access.
The site on the south shore of Muskegon Lake was the home of Sappi paper mill, which after operating from about 1900 to 2009 left a wide range of environmental contamination in its wake. Residents have largely voiced support for Muskegon-based Parkland Properties’ plans for the site, along with concern for the property’s contamination and need for proper environmental mitigation before redevelopment.
“The property owner will need to conduct extensive work to ensure that the property is developed safely so that residents and visitors to the site do not come into contact with contaminated soil and groundwater and so that buildings are constructed in such a way that the risk of vapors entering the structures is properly mitigated,” Peter Van Heest, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s site lead for the property, told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Part of the environmental cleanup and mitigation costs will be covered by a $15 million state grant that was allocated in 2022 to clean up PFAS. State lawmakers on Nov. 2 moved to expand the use of the grant to environmental mitigation and cleanup activities on the site beyond just PFAS.
Parkland Properties expects the environmental cleanup and mitigation will exceed $15 million, and is still working on assessing all of the cleanup and mitigation needed on site.
The company, led by President Jon Rooks, aims to start construction in 2024, pending approval from multiple governing bodies including the city of Muskegon, EGLE and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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The developer is under contract to purchase the site from Pure Muskegon, and has proposed a massive redevelopment plan called Windward Pointe that could include up to 2,314 residential units, 252 private boat slips and 1,400 linear feet of transient spaces, as well as 42,780 square feet of retail/office space.
“We are in the process of finalizing our additional testing and determining our due care strategy for the site,” Rooks said. “There are a variety of issues at this site, but they are not unlike issues that have been found at other industrial sites in Michigan, or even other sites around Muskegon Lake. We will deal with a lot of these issues using methods that have been utilized throughout the state on other brownfield sites.”
Environmental contaminants detected in the site’s soil, groundwater and soil gas include PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), metals, methane, hydrogen sulfide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), dioxins/furans, as well as pH concerns, according to Van Heest. As well, previous reports documented excessive levels of methane and hydrogen sulfide in the groundwater and soil gas onsite, Van Heest added.
“The methane concentrations far exceed the screening levels for flammability and explosivity and the concentrations of hydrogen sulfide also indicate a potential for very serious risks to health and safety if the site were to be improperly developed,” Van Heest said.
The state of Michigan entered into an Administrative Order by Consent (AOC) in 2016 with S.D. Warren Co., also known as Sappi, as well as Melching Inc. for the contamination, in exchange for the state agreeing not to sue or take administrative action against the then-property owner.
The response activities in the AOC were completed in 2017, but did not include PFAS mitigation because the AOC was signed before PFAS were discovered at the site, Van Heest said.
No detectable levels of PFAS have been found in the Muskegon Lake water column, but that will continue to be tested as the development team creates its stormwater management plan, Rooks said.
Pure Muskegon, a group of 13 investors that all have ties to Muskegon, was unaware the site had PFAS when they purchased it, which changed some of the development possibilities for the site, Rooks said. Pure Muskegon previously envisioned a large, mixed-use residential development on the site similar in nature to what Rooks is proposing.
Pure Muskegon in 2016 purchased the property from Nunica-based demolition company Melching Inc. with the goal of remediating the legacy industrial property for future development. The group of philanthropists underwent a lengthy process to remove deed restrictions on the site that limited activity on the property to industrial use.
Risks and rewards
Despite the extensive mitigation work required before the site’s redevelopment, Rooks said his team feels confident it can be properly remediated. In the months leading up to its Windward Pointe announcement, Parkland Properties commissioned three environmental firms to analyze the site: Fishbeck, Barr Engineering Co., and Environmental Resources Group.
Based on their findings, all three firms believe the site can be safely redeveloped into a residential, mixed-use community, Rooks said.
“This site is costly to redevelop,” Rooks said. “There are a lot of risks involved with this project, and we are not going to propose something that we do not believe will be successful or that could jeopardize the project. We believe the worst thing for this community would be for this project to fail and remain in its current state. Leaving the property ‘as is’ will not make it cleaner; and redeveloping the property will make it safer, not worse.”
Alan Steinman, a professor at Grand Valley State University’s Annis Water Resources Institute on Muskegon Lake, said he views the renewed interest in the site as a positive. Steinman has worked at length on environmental mitigation efforts on Muskegon Lake over the years.
Steinman noted that Pure Muskegon and Parkland Properties are both made up of local people who have a vested interest in Muskegon’s future.
“They live here and want to do right and have a very high chance of making sure this remediation is complete compared to someone from out of town,” Steinman said. “Jon is very interested in making sure this is done right. I do think there needs to be more rigorous testing done (on the site) in the future, but EGLE won’t approve this unless they meet certain standards.”
Moreover, the multiple large-scale projects planned or underway along Muskegon Lake show the success that environmental mitigation has had over the years on economic development, Steinman added.
“When I got here 22 years ago, I would walk downtown and it was a ghost town,” Steinman said. “Trying to attract and retain talent was very difficult. We’ve come a long way, and are starting to have the kinds of amenities the younger generation is looking for.”
Steinman views the contamination of the former paper mill site and future public access in the proposed redevelopment as intertwined. He is in favor of the city purchasing and converting 10 lakeshore properties within the site into a public park to increase the public access in the development. The Muskegon City Commission approved the option agreement for the parcels on Oct. 24.
The city’s purchase of the 10 lakefront parcels from Parkland Properties would equate to about 1,164 total lineal feet of waterfront property in the 122-acre site that is accessible to the public, excluding planned boardwalk areas.
Especially because of the large amount of public funds and effort to mitigate Muskegon Lake contamination over the years, it is “incumbent” to ensure public access is part of Parkland Properties’ plans for the site, Steinman said.
After all, he said: “It’s public dollars that got them interested in developing it to this point.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated a total cost of the project redevelopment, which is still undetermined.
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