Marquette city officials survey a stream of toxic wood tar uncovered during a past excavation at the former Cliffs Dow site in Marquette. (Journal file photo)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette City Commission unanimously voted to approve a contract with ORIN Technologies for an in-situ remediation of the Cliffs-Dow Brownfield site at their Monday meeting.

In September of 2023, the City was awarded an EPA grant, totaling $964,250, for evaluation and cleanup services at the Cliffs-Dow site. The City hired TriMedia Environmental and Engineering Services, LLC through a request for proposal process to act on the city’s behalf as a qualified environmental professional consultant.

TriMedia assisted the city in putting together an RFP for a cleanup contractor to conduct in-situ remediation at the site. The RFP was advertised for bids on July 17 with a bid opening on August 20. Three cleanup contractors responded with proposals:

• Regenesis Bioremediation at $519,976

• ORIN Technologies at $802,148

• Taplin Group, LLC at $5,077,659.40

The proposals were reviewed by the City, TriMedia and the city’s environmental legal counsel (Foley, Baron, Metzger and Juip, PLLC.) The consensus among the group was to recommend awarding the cleanup contract to ORIN Technologies based on their complete RFP response which includes a bench study, remaining under budget and providing the most value at the cost provided. The services come at no cost to the city and the work is fully covered by the EPA cleanup grant.

“I would highly doubt, and certainly not in my lifetime, that this site is ever going to be 100% cleaned up. Over the years, there’s been time after time after time where we go ahead, we try and make space in our city that was very highly industrial back in the industrial phase that we have to go through and make some really tough decisions with how our land was neglected over time,” said Mayor ProTem Paul Schloegel. “My only point really in this is to say that I’m really proud that as a commission, we can sit here and say that we’re (taking) steps to make the site the best that we can with the ways that we have at our fingertips in 2025. I hope that further commissions down the line will continue the same efforts in order to and try their best to bring back – whether it’s the Cliffs-Dow site or any other piece of Marquette property – the best possible way that they can, responsibly and out of respect for Mother Earth and for the people that are coming after us, and even the people that came before us, because we’re not all perfect and we all go a little rogue every once in a while, and I think there was a period in time where they can say they went a little rogue.”

The city commission approved the contract in unanimous vote by all seven members.

“I have a fair amount of education behind me and this is way over my head. I too am relying on TriMedia and the city staff. I feel we have to rely on the experts at the city and the consultants chosen, and the legal advisors and the choice they made,” shared Commissioner Cary Gottlieb. “I will support this, but we’ll see what happens. This may not be the end of the road.”

The next city commission meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 29 in commission chambers, located at 300 W. Baraga Ave. More information on meeting schedules and agenda packets can be found online at www.marquettemi.gov/commission.

Abby LaForest can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 548. Her email address is alaforest@miningjournal.net.