The Oakland County Sportsmen’s Club (OCSC) has conducted initial cleanup response actions to remove lead shot from a 4.5 acre area of the Clinton River and adjoining wetlands. The action was conducted to address ecological risks associated with lead contaminated sediments in the river and wetlands, including recent swan mortalities that may have resulted from swans feeding in the affected area. Initial activities involved an innovative method to hydraulically dredge and pump the river sediments to an upland staging area of geotextile fabric tubes.
Background: Founded as a non-profit organization in 1943 on 200 acres of land bordering Waterford and Independence Townships, the OCSC
was established to provide members and their families an opportunity to pursue
outdoor recreation activities with personal skill development and community
involvement. Recreation activities historically included the operation of
a trap and skeet shotgun range and the use of lead shot.
Initial remediation efforts: Sediment sampling was conducted by the DEQ, Remediation and Redevelopment Division and State Level-of-Effort contractor Earth Tech to investigate the distribution of lead shot in the Clinton River and adjoining wetlands. Results from sediment samples collected in areas downrange of the OCSC shotgun range identified lead shot in both river and wetland sediments.
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Given this information, the OCSC
hired a contractor to hydraulically dredge the sediments. The dredged
material was pumped nearly 1,000 feet through a flexible tube into geobags
placed in an upland area downrange of the shotgun shooting stations. |
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During the pumping of the sediments, a polymer compound was added to the sediments through a flexible tube to chemically stabilize the lead impacted sediments contained in the geobags. An NPDES permit was obtained by OCSC from the DEQ for the discharge of the water during the dewatering of the dredged sediments contained in the geobags. A legal survey of the geobag placement area was conducted by OCSC and a deed restriction is to be placed on this area to assure this material will not be disturbed or relocated in accordance with state law. The dredge sediments will remain onsite until the shooting range operations are discontinued. After range operation ceases, appropriate response actions will be conducted to address remaining impacts of the upland soils at the shooting range. |
Additional Information:
The files for the OCSC-Clinton River sediment remediation project are available through the DEQ Remediation and Redevelopment Division, Southeast Michigan District Office; 734-953-8905. DEQ Project manager for this site was Dave LaBrecque.
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