Demolition, recycling of former Sappi plant continues as do smokestack talks

MUSKEGON, MI -- The lack of an environmental agreement on the demolition of the former Sappi plantsmokestacks has not impeded progress to take down the former paper plant.

Ken Callow, manager of the demolition project for property owner Melching Inc., said work to remove buildings and foundations on the property is more than halfway completed.

The latest use for recyclable materials from the massive plant is crushed concrete, piles of which are visible on the Muskegon Lake-front site. A contractor recently requested 60,000 tons of the crushed concrete, much of it for the U.S. 31 bypass in northern Ottawa County, Callow said.

"That drove us long hours -- weekends and holidays," he said.

That's how the work goes on the huge, 120-acre site. When there's demand for the recyclable material being sorted and piled on site, the work takes off. It slows when other projects Melching is working have deadlines taking priority, Callow said.

"Since we own the site, we can work on it when we want," Callow said.

At this point, removal of buildings on site is about 75 percent complete, and removal of foundations is about 50 percent complete, Callow said.

While work on the former industrial site continues at a steady pace, negotiations over the demolition of two 275-foot smokestacks are frustratingly slow, Callow said. Melching officials are working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to find a solution to concerns over a glaze containing asbestos that covers the length of the smokestacks.

In most cases, the EPA requires removal of asbestos prior to demolition by explosives. Exceptions include floor tiles and roofing materials with asbestos, Callow said. Melching officials are working to convince EPA officials that the glaze, which has asbestos fibers in it, should be placed in the same category as the allowed tiles and roofing material.

Without such an exception, it would be "unbelievably expensive" to remove the glaze, Callow said. It also would be extremely expensive to dismantle the towers from the top down, he said. Other methods of knocking down the massive towers would be too dangerous, he said.

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Demolition, recycling of former Sappi plant continues as do smokestack talks