We Are Wolverine

We wanted to provide an update on our ongoing work to construct a groundwater capture system at the site of our former tannery in accordance with an EGLE-approved Response Activity Plan.  We are pleased to announce that this system is now online and operational.

As a reminder of the design concept and objective, this system prevents groundwater at the site from migrating to the Rogue River and Rum Creek, using 2,000 linear feet of groundwater capture trenches and six groundwater extraction wells, along with 28 piezometers to monitor the performance of the system.

Once groundwater is captured using the trenches and wells, it is routed to an interim, modular water treatment system before being discharged under an EGLE-issued permit to the Rogue River. Pictures of the system are shown below.

Using an interim treatment system like this allows for performance testing of the system to further evaluate groundwater flow, volume, and concentration data. This data will then be used to optimize design, installation, and operation of a permanent treatment system at the site.

Beyond operation of the groundwater capture system described above, other activity is also taking place at the site.  Grading and seeding that began last fall will continue throughout the spring and fencing and erosion controls will remain in place to restrict foot traffic until after this vegetation takes hold.

We will continue to use this blog to keep the community informed as our work continues.  As always, residents with questions or feedback are encouraged to contact Wolverine Worldwide directly at HouseStreet@wwwinc.com or (616) 866-5627.

Last year Wolverine Worldwide made considerable progress implementing an EGLE-approved Work Plan to construct 27 acres of engineered caps at our House Street property. For details on the work completed last year, please see our prior blog posts here, here, and here.

Our primary contractor, RECON, is now back onsite to complete the work.  From now through early summer they will be conducting earthwork, including placing finish topsoil over the engineered caps in preparation for final grass planting.  After that, and based on weather conditions, they will determine timing over the summer for seeding and planting the long-term vegetation specified in the Work Plan.

The rendering below shows locations and examples of the types of vegetation being planted, including photos of what the different planting areas are expected to look like once they are established. Note that while seeding and planting will be completed this year, it may take up to two growing seasons for the vegetation to become mature and well-established.

We will again be performing air monitoring across the property during earthwork activities.  The air monitoring equipment was set up in mid-March and has already been collecting background readings. Air monitoring will continue during construction work and additional air monitoring summaries will be posted in the documents section of this blog as they were last year.

We look forward to completing the work at our House Street property this year, and we will continue to use this blog to keep the community informed as it progresses.  Residents with questions are encouraged to contact us directly at HouseStreet@wwwinc.com or (616) 866-5627.

As the end of the year approaches, we wanted to provide an update on our ongoing work to construct a groundwater capture system at the site of our former tannery per the EGLE-approved Response Activity Plan.  As a reminder, this work is being led by Wolverine’s leader contractor, Sevenson Environmental Services.

This fall we fully reopened the parking lot at the southern end of the property, along with the portion of the White Pine Trail that was closed earlier this year.  The parking lot has been restored, including the sidewalks, curbs, and pavement.  In addition, a new dumpster enclosure was constructed in the parking lot that increases capacity for the benefit of local businesses.

Other significant work completed on the site in recent months includes the following:

1. Installation of six groundwater extraction wells designed to support the groundwater interceptor trenches, along with 28 piezometers that will be used to monitor the performance of the interceptor system. Development of the extraction wells and piezometers has also been completed.
   
2. Installation of pipe vaults that connect the interceptor system’s water piping to a main header line that will carry captured groundwater to the interim water treatment system.  This included installing five lengths of piping underneath Rum Creek to connect the groundwater interceptor system across the entire Site. These utility lines have been pressure tested to confirm connections throughout the system.
   
3. Installation of three kiosk buildings that will house the controls to operate each trench segment of the interceptor system. Currently, Sevenson’s electrical contractor has begun the process of pulling wiring for power and instrumentation signal and making these connections to control panels within the kiosks as well as at panels that have been erected near the location of the temporary treatment system. Power for the kiosk buildings and temporary treatment system will be connected pending coordination with Consumers Energy and the City of Rockford.
   
4. Installation of the utility trenches that will carry utility conduits to connect the piezometers, groundwater extraction wells, and groundwater collection trenches to the three kiosk buildings and subsurface control vaults that will serve to operate and monitor the interceptor system.
   
5. Restoration of the lawn and riverbank areas, which will continue through the rest of the year, weather permitting, along with the demobilization of equipment, materials and personnel.

Throughout October, Sevenson continued exporting the soil generated from installing the interceptor system trenches and utility trenches. The soil is being delivered to an approved Michigan landfill. In addition, Sevenson continues exporting water that was collected from development of the extraction wells, piezometers, and from dewatering of excavations during the utility trench installation. The water is being delivered to an approved Michigan treatment facility.

Finally, air monitoring at the perimeter of the project Site was completed at the beginning of November and no additional earthwork is scheduled. There have been no exceedances of action levels to date.  The air monitoring data is available in the “Documents” section of this blog or by clicking on this link.  We continue to evaluate the data to be proactive with dust control as needed. 

We will continue to use this blog to keep the community informed as our remediation work continues in the weeks and months ahead.  As always, residents with questions or feedback are encouraged to contact Wolverine Worldwide directly at HouseStreet@wwwinc.com or (616) 866-5627. Photos of the site showing the infrastructure work are below:

As the end of the year approaches, we wanted to provide an update on the work that has continued throughout the fall to  construct 27 acres of engineered caps at our House Street site in accordance with an EGLE-approved Work Plan.

Major areas of focus over the past few months include placement of topsoil over the mounds, seeding the topsoil, installation of erosion controls, and continued construction of the retention basin.  Weather events interfered with performance of some work this fall, but the project remains on schedule and additional details and photos showing each element of the work are included below.

Restoration and seeding on the Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast mounds is complete and the Southwest Mound is stabilized for the winter using topsoil, erosion control blanket, and temporary seeding.  Final topsoil grading, seeding, storm water work (drainage swale and retention basin) as well as the final grading and permanent seeding outside of the mounds will be completed in Spring 2025.  In addition, each of the geomembrane liners have been covered by at least 2 feet of soil, referred to as Barrier Protection Material (BPM).

The BPM layer is overlain by a minimum of 6 inches of imported topsoil.  In October, RECON completed placing topsoil on the Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast mounds.  They have placed topsoil in the northern portion of the Southwest Mound and expect to complete topsoil import to cover the remainder of the Southwest Mound in the spring.  The southern portion of the Southwest Mound will be covered with erosion control blankets and temporary seed to stabilize the underlying soil for the winter.

In late October, RECON completed hydroseeding on the Northwest and Northeast Mounds, and the Southeast mound was seeded in early November.  Hydroseeding is a process which involves spraying a mixture of seeds, fertilizer, soil amendments, mulch, and water onto the soil.  Temporary winter seeding was applied over the southern portion of the southwest mound and the areas outside of the Mounds on December 2 and December 10.  Other soil erosion controls will be installed as necessary to protect the site over the winter, with final topsoil import, grading and seed cover for the Southwest Mound and areas outside of the mounds expected to be complete in Spring 2025.

RECON has made progress in converting the Temporary Retention Basin into the Permanent Retention Basin, including widening and deepening the excavation and adding rip-rap stone to the bottom of the basin.  Construction of the Permanent Retention Basin, drainage swale, and access road will continue in the Spring of 2025 and we expect that work to be complete in early Summer 2025.

RECON finished earthwork on December 7 and equipment demobilization concluded on December 13.  Perimeter air monitoring ended on December 7, and there have been no exceedances of action levels.  The air monitoring data is available in the “Documents” section of this blog or by clicking on this link.  We continue to evaluate the data to be proactive with dust control as needed.

We will continue to use this blog to keep the community informed as our remediation work continues in the weeks and months ahead.  As always, residents with questions or feedback are encouraged to contact Wolverine Worldwide directly at HouseStreet@wwwinc.com or (616) 866-5627.