GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Work is underway for what is believed to be the final stretch for the Fox River Cleanup Project.
The goal is reducing the health and environmental risk due to PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls.
Crews have spent years cleaning the chemicals in a 13-mile stretch of the Fox River from Little Rapids to the Bay.
In downtown Green Bay, dredging equipment is on the move. For 12 seasons now, the red barges have been familiar sights on the water.
“So far, for the first 11 years of the project, about 5.9 million cubic yards of material has been removed from the river,” said Scott Stein, Fox River Cleanup Project Spokesman.
Stein says work started Monday, and dredging and capping operations will concentrate on the area from the downtown to the mouth of the Fox River.
“It looks like it will be probably a couple of months of activity on the river. So by the end of June, all of the activity is expected to be concluded for this project,” he said.
Stein says the dredging is designed to remove PCBs, which are harmful to humans and the environment. Some who use the river say they have noticed a difference. Smokey’s on the Bay Bait and Tackle Shop is closed because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, but Jeff Tilkens says the project has an impact.
“When I grew up here, I remember in the 70s, and early 80s, this river was really bad. The fishing has just come back so much, and I think a lot of it has to do with the dredging,” said Jeff Tilkens, Smokey’s on the Bay.
And while the dredge work rolls on, officials ask those on the river to be careful.
“We’d like people to pay attention to those barges, and those buoys and markers, and use caution. Slow down. Kind of treat them like the orange barrels that you see on road projects,” said Stein.
Dredging is expected to wrap up this summer.
Officials say the contractors are taking extra precautions due to COVID-19.
