Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By JAN TUCKER
Ontonagon — The Ontonagon County Board of Commissioners agreed Resolute Forest Products Mill in Menominee can deposit some of its paper mill sludge at the Ever-Green Landfill and Recycling Center in Ontonagon to help save the jobs of 100 workers in Menominee.
Pat Tucker, owner of Ever-Green, told the county board the heavy rains in the Menominee area have made it impossible for that mill to enter and deposit their sludge. He said they are looking around for approved depositories for a short-term deposit or they will have to lay off 100 employees.
Ever-Green was created and licensed to accept sludge from the Ontonagon mill. When Tucker purchased the site, the Ontonagon County Solid Waste Committee rewrote the waste plan to accept waste from the entire Western Upper Peninsula. That plan was approved by townships, county and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The Western U.P. Development Region wrote the last solid waste plan and has agreed to assist with the amendment. Tucker said he will pay any costs associated with such an amendment and meeting of the solid waste committee.
The Menominee mill would like to use Ontonagon as one of the short-term depositories. The DNR has notified Tucker it would issue an emergency order permitting the use of the Ontonagon site immediately for Resolute’s sludge as long as there was no objection from the county board and if the county authority amends its plan to include Menominee. Tucker said he does not expect the Menominee mill to use the site on a long-term basis, because hauling the waste in trucks for such a distance is cost prohibitive. The county approved of the emergency permit from the DNR and a meeting of the solid waste committee.
The county board approved a request from Ontonagon County Sheriff Dale Rantala to hire two matrons to assist females when at the jail for booking and arrest procedures and for assisting in transports of females out of county. A matron would be called if Correctional Officer Dayle LaBine was not available during the booking or transportation of the female. The matron will be paid $20 an hour with a minimum of 1 hour.
The commission put its support behind the Ontonagon County Road Commission and their rural grant application to rebuild a critical section of County Road 107 and maintain safe public access to two Michigan premiere natural attractions, the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park and Lake Superior.
In other action, the board:
—Renewed an agreement with Carp Lake Township for police services to the township.
—agreed to purchase six computers and necessary software.
—Heard from employee Paula Domitrovich thanking the county for the added security they have provided for court house employees and visitors.
