Health Department gives temporary restroom permit for Mt. Bohemia HANCOCK ’Äì The Mt. Bohemia ski hill is coming closer to reaching its goal of opening before Christmas now that developer Black Bear, Inc., has received a temporary permit from the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department for the portable restrooms. Construction on the yurts and chairlifts is apparently still in progress. Once the lifts are fully assembled, they will need to pass a safety inspection by the State of Michigan Consumer and Industry Services (CIS) department. "Dr. Gail Shebuski has authorized a temporary (60-day) Pump and Haul permit for the two mobile restroom units at Mt. Bohemia," said Jim LaFleur, environmental health director for the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, who issued the permit last week. LaFleur said the decision was made after discussion with Randy Conroy, district geologist for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Waste Management Division in Marquette. The temporary permit is based on a contingency, LaFleur noted. "They (Black Bear) must obtain their long-term Pump and Haul and the final treatment system permits," he added. "We have experience with Pump and Haul in other locations, and it can be done without any risk to public health or the environment ’Ķ It’Äôs written right in the permit that they must operate and monitor the Pump and Haul system to assure that there’Äôs no discharge of sewage to the ground surface at any time." LaFleur said the health department permit is written according to MDEQ criteria. "The system must provide continuous protection of the public health and environment or it must be taken out of service," he added. Said Conroy, "It’Äôs very similar to Pump and Haul, but they will have to limit volumes." LaFleur said Gordie Hyrkas of Traprock Valley, a licensed septage hauler, will service the holding tanks on the mobile restroom units for wastewater from toilets and hand-washing. La Fleur estimated these would need emptying two to three times a week. The septage will be hauled to the North Houghton County Water and Sewage Authority treatment lagoons in Calumet Township. Grey water from the yurts (for example, the cafeteria or the First Aid Station) will be stored in the 30,000-gallon holding tank already constructed for the long-term Pump and Haul system. "The grey water in the large holding tank will not be pumped from the tank until the (long-term) Pump and Haul permit is received (from the DEQ)," LaFleur said. Water will come from a well in Lac La Belle, LaFleur said. He said he thought the water system would be connected to the portable restroom trailer and some of the yurts, most likely the cafeteria and First Aid Station. He added the cafeteria would have convenience-store-type, pre-packaged food, which requires a Michigan Department of Agriculture food license. Sandra Britton, a member of the Mt. Bohemia Advisory Committee, said committee members were told at the last meeting that solid garbage (from the food service) would go into township bags and the Lac La Belle dumpster. Conroy said last Friday he expects the DEQ to publish a notice for a public hearing on the Part 31 Groundwater Discharge permit and the long-term Pump and Haul permit by about Dec. 15. The Pump and Haul permit requires a 30-day comment period, but not necessarily a public hearing. Public comment letters on the Part 31 application are the main reason for the public hearing, Conroy said. The Pump and Haul permit cannot be issued until the developer awards bids on the construction of the lagoon system. "The Department doesn’Äôt see construction of the temporary holding tank as beginning construction on the lagoons," Conroy said. Conroy added he had forward a comment letter from Jim Mihelcic, Michigan Tech professor of civil and environmental engineering, to UP Engineers and Architects, Inc. (consultants to Black Bear). In that letter, dated Oct. 31, 2000, Mihelcic raised questions on the ability of the proposed system to remove nitrogen adequately. Mihelcic’Äôs chief concern is whether the lagoon system as presently designed is of an area large enough to treat the nitrogen, especially since, in cold climates, nitrification and denitrification proceed more slowly. In his letter to the DEQ, Mihelcic also expresses concern about the potential impacts of the spray discharge on surface waters and groundwater because the natural flow of surface water out of the irrigation area appears to be north towards the Montreal River. Other public comment letters expressed the same concern because of wetlands located near the lagoon system site. Bob Deatrick, senior soil scientist in the Groundwater Program Section of the DEQ Waste Management Division in Lansing, said he is still waiting for Chris Holmes, environmental engineer for UP Engineers and Architects to complete the Irrigation Management Plan (IMP) for the Part 31 application. "He’Äôs going to try to give it to us before (the public hearing)," Deatrick said Monday. "I have to have it in order to make a determination of site suitability." Deatrick added he would like to have the completed IMP by the time of the hearing so he can answer questions the general public might have with regard to the irrigation system and whether or not it will perform what it needs to do. Noting he had not yet seen a Keweenaw County soil survey, Deatrick said Holmes would be "pulling all that information together" in the IMP. "I’Äôll take a look at the soil survey from Keweenaw County," Deatrick said. "If it’Äôs not complete, I would have to call the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture) and ask them if they have information regarding that area." He added if NRCS did not have that information he would have to rely on UP Engineers. Although Holmes was unavailable Monday, Conroy said he thought UP Engineers’Äô intentions were to have the IMP completed in two to three weeks, which would be in time for the hearing tentatively scheduled for January 16. While the public comment period for the Part 31 application should have ended in early November ’Äì 20 days after the Oct. 17 Public Notice ’Äì the public comment period is on hold, or extended, because a public hearing has been requested. The public can continue to submit comments previous to and during the public hearing, Conroy said. He noted a hearing is typically held after the department has developed a draft permit and he would prefer to have a draft permit done at the time of the hearing. "The benefit of a draft permit is that it includes restrictions pertinent to the discharge," Conroy said. "It might answer questions in advance of or at the public hearing ’Ķ We certainly have to give the status of our review at the public hearing." Conroy noted that, while the public hearing can still be held even if the IMP is not complete, "neither permit can be given until the IMP is satisfactory." He explained that the permitting process can move forward faster since the DEQ (Part 22) Groundwater Quality Rules were revised on August 26, 1999. One change in the new rules is that the Public Notice can be published at the time of the application. "The criteria for site suitability and treatment system is spelled out in the rules and allows for expediting the permitting process (for that particular rule category)," Conroy said. Meanwhile, construction continues on Mt. Bohemia, with most of the yurts completed and the portable restroom apparently in place, according to observers. Black Bear President Lonie Glieberman did not allow his staff to comment to Keweenaw Today, but residents report construction activity continuing even through recent heavy snowfall. Said Lac La Belle resident Gordon Anderson, "They’Äôre working every day. It looks like a seven-day-a-week operation." As of Monday, he said he had not yet seen any chairs mounted on cables for the lifts. Chairlifts are not covered under the state building codes enforced by the county, but construction and safety permits for the lifts are issued through the State of Michigan Consumer and Industry Services (CIS), Bureau of Commercial Services. Allen Chester, manager of Ski Area and Amusement Ride Safety for CIS, said the developer has construction permits. When construction of the lifts is complete they must be inspected for safety before they can be operated. "We’Äôll have an inspector up that way Friday," Chester said. -Michele Anderson December 11, 2000