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Managing the Removal, Disposal, and Reuse of Dredged Material

Managing Dredged
Material Becoming a
Hot Topic
In March, 2008 the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency (MCPA) updated the
Managing Dredged Materials in the State of Minnesota manual that was published in 2007. This manual
is intended as a guide and
does not contain any mandatory requirements for the
management of dredged materials, other than those requirements already in existence.
According
to
Ginny
Black, Organics Recycling
Specialist at the MPCA,
the management of these
dredged materials has become a hot topic. Within the
past 15 years, many storm
water ponds have been built
by Minnesota cities for the
collection and conveyance
of storm water. These storm
water ponds typically have
a lifespan of 5-30 years before they become filled with
sediment and need to be
cleaned out. The MPCA is
now enforcing the Federal
Clean Water Act and cities
are responsible for all storm
water and dredged materials leaving their cities.

Why Dredge?
Dredging is necessary
because the ability of the
storm water ponds to filter the runoff to lakes and
waterways is dependent on
the storage volume of the
ponds, explains Clifton
Aichinger, Administrator
of the Ramsey-Washington
Metro Watershed District.
When half of the original
design volume of the pond is
filled in, dredging needs to
be done to restore the pond
to the original design specifications.
However, some
cities are finding it so expensive to remove and dispose
of this material under the
new guidelines that many
of them are electing not to
complete these projects.

According to the MPCA

manual, before any dredging activity occurs, a sediment characterization must
be completed and sent to
the MPCA with a permit
application, or a Notification to Manage Dredged
Material without a Permit.
Whether or not a permit is
required depends on the specifics of the dredging project.
Dredged material is characterized by the type and level
of pollutant in the material
in comparison to established
Soil Reference Values (SRV)
found in the manual.
Level 1 is suitable for
use or reuse on properties with a residential
or recreational use category.

 Level 2 is suitable for use

or reuse on properties with
an industrial use category.
Level 3 is categorized as
having significant contamination and is not suitable
for use or reuse and must
be disposed of at an appropriate solid waste facility.

Potential for High Cost

and High Livability

Cities are ultimately responsible for the cha in of custody of
this material. There have been
occasions when the
dredged material was
not tested prior to disposal and the city was
responsible for the removal of the material
from the disposal site
and the transfer of the
material to a landfill,
at great expense to the
city and the threat of
fines from the MPCA.
The MPCA states
in the manual that
dredged material may
be disposed of at a permitted solid waste facility, through permitted on-site disposal, or
through use or reuse for a beneficial purpose, including fill. According to Greg Nelson, Senior
CivilEngineeringTechnicianat
BarrEngineeringCompany,there
are currently no pre-approved
re-use sites for Level 2 dredged
material. It is very expensive to
haul this material to a contaminated waste site and may not be
necessary,dependingontheSRV
levels of the material.
The MPCA manual also
states that except in cases
where the dredged material is

heavily contaminated, the use

or reuse of dredged material is
a viable and suitable management method. Use or reuse of
dredged material, where suitable, is highly recommended
as a management option by the
MPCA.

An Affordable,
Eco-Friendly Solution
Marty Long, owner of Minnesota Mulch and Soil says
State assets are being turned
into liabilities at taxpayer expense. Tested Level 2 material, properly mixed with a pre-

scribed ratio mix of compost,

creates a superior soil that
would improve water quality
in highway ditches throughout the state. This is also a
viable disposal method that
would cost cities less than half
of what its currently costing to
send this material to a hazardous waste site or a landfill.
According to Tom Halbach,
Professor and Extension Educator with the Department of Soil,
Water, and Climate at the UniversityofMinnesota,Minnesota

Mulch and Soil is working to develop an innovative process that

can upgrade Level 2 dredged materials to a more useable product.
The success of the outcome depends on the formula of the mix.
Its like baking a cake. You cant
use only flour or the cake wont
rise and it wont taste sweet. The
ingredients have to be proportional for the cake to turn out.
Its the same with turning Level
2 material into a more useful
product. If mixed correctly, the
elements in the organic matter
balance the elements found in
the Level 2 material and make it
suitable for roadside use. Its a
win-win situation because custom mixing
low Level 2 material
withorganicmaterial
creates a new product with more value
to society. This process can be beneficial
tore-buildingtop-soil,
developing root mass,
reducing erosion, and
growinghealthygrass
and vegetation on the
roadsides.
Minnesota Mulch
& Soil has been granted a case by case permit by the Minnesota
Pollution
Control
Agency to remove
Level 2 material, mix it with a
prescribed organic compost, and
reuse the new soil in suitable locations. Minnesota Mulch & Soil
istheonlydredgedmaterialhandling company in the state with
this capability. Call (651) 7554371 for estimates and more information.

Minnesota Mulch & Soil

Who We Are
Minnesota Mulch & Soil
was founded in 1985 on the
principle of environmental
enhancement through recycling of natural materials.
Our business, originally Scott
County Nursery, started with
the goal taking vegetation
and soil bound for landfills
and turning this into material
that could be used to restore
natural environments. This
is accomplished by processing
waste biological and mineral
materials into specialty soils
and soil covers that are appropriate for residential and commercial landscaping, small- to
large-scale developments, and
transportation projects. We
have worked with government
organizations, private industries, and the University of
Minnesota to ensure that we
not only meet but exceed compliance standards for storage,
handling, and transport of raw
and processed materials.

districts. Currently we have

a Composting License in Ramsey County for our White Bear
Lake site, and we operate under the University of Minnesota Feedlot Permit at the St.
Paul Campus, which enables
us to process up to 20,000 cubic yards of solid manure and
600,000 gallons of liquid manure per year.

Recent Project
Our custom soil mixes are
used for a variety of purposes including roadside holding ponds and pond retaining
walls. We just finished two
projects in conjunction with
the I-35W and Lake Dr. interchange reconstruction in Lino
Lakes. We were hired by a
contractor to provide specialty
soils for an infiltration pond
and for the retaining wall

around a storm water pond.

The custom mix for the infiltration pond consisted of grade
2 compost, native topsoil, and
sand. The purpose of the soils
in the filtration pond is to filter pollutants from storm water runoff and to provide the
most effective material for
plant re-growth, which also
aids in the filtration process.
The material provided for the
retaining wall around the adjoining pond filled a variety
of purposes and consisted of
grade 2 compost (for moisture
retention and to add bulk,)
aged wood fines (to provide
structure,) and topsoil (to offset nitrogen leach from the
wood fines.) This mixture is a
specially formulated rooting
mix created with the help of
MnDOT and a University of
Minnesota professor for this
specific project.

What We Do
The specialized soils, mulches, and erosion control products
that we produce have been used
for golf courses, by Minnesota
counties, townships, cities, park
districts, watershed districts,
and by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Our
public sector clients also include the Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency, the
University of Minnesota, and
soil and water conservation

New Product Profile

Rooting Soil: No MoreProblems with MNDOT Spec 3877.2

Recently, as engineered soils
have been created & recreated
there have been failures to meet
specs. This usually happens
when the payment from MNDOT is smaller than expected.
The field test results failed to
meet specifications. Your payment has been reduced by 40%.
The product is already in place
there is no way to change it.

Minnesota Mulch & Soil has
worked with Dwayne Stenlund
CPESC Erosion Control Engineering Unit to design a new
product. The scope was to create
a soil that would absorb rainfall,
support plants & not muck up.
The new product meets its specs
every time. When the specs were
created soil structure was not
factored.

m u l c h

&

s o i l

P. O. Box 270101
St. Paul, Minnesota 55127

mnmulchsoil@comcast.net
651-755-4371

Dwayne stated about the current specs the silt is high only
because the spec is based on the
soils texture triangle of a loam.
It predates the concept of engineer soils, back when I thought
it was possible to actually purchase through contracts real
topsoil. Note that the plan specification for the finished product
is a combination of three materials, not a spec for the finished
product of graded particle size
distribution. What is missing
is a final gradation of the finished material spec where your
materials meet a blended product manufactured off site that
equals the spec if made onsite of
the listed three ingredients. Remember that compost does not
have to pass the #10 sieve, just

premium select topsoil borrow.

I never anticipated that manufactured top soils would lose the
organic fraction because this is
an issue of screening and pulverizing of topsoil loam, not salvage to Tier 1 materials. We will
need to work together to develop
a new spec that is separate from
natural loam.

Luckily, MM&S has people
on staff that can take word
flowage from Dwayne & convert
into physical matter. The new
product mix is now on several
projects in the Metro. The good
news is that the engineers have
agreed to change the plan to use
a better product to fit the need.
The product weight is lower
which has lowered the cost. This
is a win win.