GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The dredging season along the Fox River in Green Bay is underway.
For the 10th year, the equipment is back in the water, dredging PCB sediment left behind from decades of pollution by the paper industry.
Big red barges crept along the Fox River in Green Bay Monday morning, vacuuming up sediment.
“The dredging aspect of it is really to reduce the impact of PCBs on the environment and human health.”
Fox River Cleanup Project spokesman Scott Stein tells FOX 11 much of this year’s work will take place from Porlier Street and run north toward the mouth of the Fox River.
“There will also be activity early in the season out near the bay, as the bigger dredge, the 10-inch dredge, does work out in that area.”
But the dredging isn’t the only activity on the river.
Anglers are also on the Fox, looking for walleye, as part of the spawning run for that fish.
Stein says they need to pay attention.
“There are a lot of signs out there. We want people to treat it almost like a construction zone on the highway.”
Some fishermen, like Pulaski’s Tyler Bartz, say they are familiar with the river, and the changing conditions.
“If it is a slow no wake zone or not. Otherwise you can usually stay away from the buoys, and keep on going through. You’ll see where they are, and you can see boats going through, they try to keep the channel open, so you can go through it.”
Back on the shore, people are taking in the sights.
Tory Kemp says she will be able track the dredging each day.
“Something cool, some action along the river during at least the lunch hour, when we’re out walking the trails.”
Under the current work plan, dredging is expected to continue into 2019.
What are PCBs?
They’re man-made chemicals that entered the river as run off from the paper mills.
Since 2009, more than 4.8 million cubic yards of sediment have been dredged.
More than 2.7 million tons of sediment has been taken from the river for disposal in the landfill.
More than 117,000 truckloads have been taken to landfills.
Nearly seven billion gallons of water have been treated and put back in the river.
