The Wastelands

Protect Jean Klock Park

Wasteland

Exchanging Dirt for Dunes

Text Box: "Known groundwater and/or soil contaminants found at these sites include metals, chlorinated solvents and aromatic hydrocarbons …”

BOGUS EXCHANGE, EMPTY PROMISES

LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND ACT: to preserve, develop and assure accessibility to all citizens, quality and quantity of outdoor recreational resources

“The purposes of this part are to assist in preserving, developing, and assuring accessibility to all citizens of the United States of America of present and future generations and visitors who are lawfully present within the boundaries of the United States of America such quality and quantity of outdoor recreation resources as may be available and are necessary and desirable for individual active participation in such recreation and to strengthen the health and vitality of the citizens of the United States …” Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965

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In the mid-1970’s, the City of Benton Harbor received a grant under the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (the Act) to make improvements to the park. All Jean Klock Park acreage was then subject to the grant’s terms, which include the provision that the City may not sell or commercially develop the acreage without prior approval of the National Park Service which regulates the Act.

A most critical requirement of the law is that acreage to be converted must be exchanged with equal or better land. Further, that land must be viable as parkland and ready to occupy. Land which is exchanged will then carry the “protections” outlined in the Act.

What the city, fronting for the developer, exchanged for Lake Michigan lake frontage, including dynamic dune overlooks. are scattered pieces of contaminated land paralleling the Paw Paw River.

The are NO DUNES anywhere any longer to exchange. There is NO MORE LAKE FRONTAGE. Equal or better is out of the question. Technically, then, there should have been be NO CONVERSION of Jean Klock Park. The park was conserved expressly because of the dunes and the beach.

Harbor Shores justified this cockeyed, preposterous replacement by offering an appraisal of $714,000. for the most expensive mitigation parcel (‘H’, pictured here to the right and below) for 1.4 (one point four) acres of Whirlpool’s former factory land. That dollar figure represents 80% of the total appraised value of Jean Klock Park’s 22 acres for golf holes. (See Map Gallery for comparison) The courts have upheld the appraisals because the public has no standing to challenge the appraisals, according to the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Scattered parcels of former heavy industry acreage along the Paw Paw River are the trade for Jean Klock Park’s dunes. Trails on the private golf course including golf cart paths where golfers have the right of way and long-standing public rights-of-way will connect the parcels

Left: Parcel F, still undeveloped, looms in the distance from Riverview Drive

Right: Sign posted at Aircraft Components site. Golf course is in the background. Site is directly across the Paw Paw River from

Mitigation Parcel E.

Above, view from Parcel ‘H’ looking southwest

Above: Panoramic view from Mitigation Parcel ‘H’, a former Whirlpool Corporation manufacturing site, requiring two feet of clean fill as a buffer between toxic residual chemical contamination and human exposure, according to the 2006 appraisal for the land. Currently no public access point to this parcel exists because it hasn’t been developed.

Text Box: “Soil and domestic/industrial waste disposal and installation of an isolation zone on Parcel F to provide an exposure barrier to a walkway along the parcel will be scheduled to coincide with the completion of construction of a bridge over the Paw Paw River in July-September 2008. This bridge links Parcel F to other mitigation parcels as part of the park trail system. Upon approval of the conversion and mitigation proposal, maintenance activities such as mowing and trash removal will be carried out spring, summer, and fall. Signage will also be installed to identify the property as a city of Benton Harbor public access site.” Jean Klock Park Conversion and Mitigation Proposal ~—~ NO SIGNS ANYWHERE IDENTIFY ANY OF THE MITIGATION PARCELS

Text Box: “Parcel ‘H’ has some sample locations that exceed residential direct criteria for Arsenic and Trimethylbenzene. as well as one sample location where the residential ambient air particulate soil inhalation criteria is exceeded for Chromium.” Michigan Department of Environmental Quality letter to Harbor Shores developer, April 20, 2007

January, 2012: See here for mitigation park development status.

Text Box: Trust Fund Board Hears from Park Advocates and Residents About Contamination on Un-built Trail System Before the conversion proposal could be submitted to the National Park Service, Michigan DNRE Trust Fund Board approval was required. On October 18, 2006, the Board approved a conceptual plan with the proviso that yearly updates would be necessary. After that meeting the then-chair, Sam Washington, told the Michigan capital news service, Gongwer, “There’s a lot of if’s …” He also stated that the dunes would be left intact [not true] and that the replacement land could not be contaminated. In October and December, 2009, Harbor Shores was met with probing questions from the Board, and city residents made presentations on the many liberties the developer has taken as a result of the Board’s approval of a conceptual plan.

The conversion proposal asserted the following about the development of Parcel E:

“This mitigation parcel [Parcel E] is in close proximity to one golf hole. As a Par 3 hole there is a smaller safety zone along this fairway, so the public will not be in any danger from golfing activities. Additionally, the golf course designers left an existing tree line of mature trees to further separate the fairway from the public trail.”

See photographs below which demonstrate that the foregoing statements were lies.

Below, top,: Parcel E trail location was proposed NORTH, or riverward, of the trees; it would be impossible to build a trail there. bottom, measuring distance between rough and the water’s edge at proposed Parcel E trail way. The developer advised the public, “There is also the establishment of a minimum 25-foot native vegetation buffer between manicured turf and wetland areas, streams, rivers and watercourses.”

Public Comment Summary and Response Document, June, 2008

Text Box: Why did the state and National Park Service allow contaminated land to be used as mitigation for a Land and Water Conservation Fund park conversion? An April 9, 2007 email from the state to the developer advises: “The NPS will not accept contaminated sites for grant assistance or as mitigation.” A November 1, 2007, email between two state employees says: “The first is the statement that there are serious deficiencies with the proposed mitigation. I told him that I believe that our discussion centered on providing clearer documentation on usefulness; if they had serious concerns we need to know specifically what we need to do to document resolution to those concerns. Jim [Omaha NPS office] sought advice and replied that we need to address potential contamination issues, interim uses, former park designation and development schedule”

Text Box: a) The level and extent of contamination alleviated by the qualified taxpayer's eligible activities to the extent known to the qualified taxpayer: The property is contaminated with metals, PNA’s, and VOC’s. The total cost of remediation and due care is expected to be approximately $50,000 and will be reimbursed through Brownfield TIF dollars. Subject: Large Brownfield MBT Credit Approval Harbor Shores HV Construction, LLC Harbor Shores Parcel 3 (L-2) [See Graphics Below] City of Benton Harbor, Berrien County (NOTE: The property is part of Benton Harbor only because P.A. 425 allows a temporary transfer of land from one jurisdiction to another. Parcel 3 (L-2) will go back to St. Joseph within 20 years from 2005. It was transferred to Benton Harbor only because Benton Harbor is a CORE community, eligible for tax credits for infrastructure. St. Joseph is not. )

In December, 2009, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) granted Harbor Shores brownfield tax credits to apply to the environmental remediation of the former Whirlpool Corporation industrial property which includes JKP mitigation Parcel H. The 12/15/2009 memorandum states the following:

“This project will redevelop approximately 13 acres of property in the City of Benton Harbor, Berrien County as part of the larger Harbor Shores project. It will include between 200-215 condominiums and/or residential townhomes and 34,000 square feet of commercial/retail space and marinas. Also included will be a portion of the 12 mile trail-way system which is part of the entire Harbor Shores development with public access to a river walk, marina and commercial areas.”

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Above: Snapshot from Harbor Shores 2007 Brownfield Map showing color coded parcel legend. Left: another snapshot from the 2007 Harbor Shores Brownfield Map showing the Whirlpool Corp parcel as L-2 (see color legend for parcel L color). Map here identifies part of the Whirlpool Corp property as Parcel 2.

HOME MAP GALLERY WASTELAND THE DUNES GENTLE CREATURES JENS JENSEN + JKP Q+A ABOUT

A particularly devious assertion by the developer, Harbor Shores, was that they would build a public path along the Paw Paw River east of North Shore Drive. Plans were released in April, 2008, for public comment under the authority of the National Park Service, plans which had been reviewed by the State of Michigan. The proposed development for this area known as Parcel E is shown below.

Parcel H (panorama below) is the former Whirlpool property. It will rim a private marina and condominium complex, not yet built. An easement in favor of Cornerstone Alliance was recorded in December, 2010, granted by the state-appointed Emergency Manager of Benton Harbor, even though the National Park Service had objected to a prior, nearly identical easement, and the 2008 conversion proposal indicated that the easement would be removed within 30 days of July 25, 2008.

Below: Entrance to Parcel F.

Post-hoc disclosure: After the public review and comment period had expired and after the National Park Service approved the proposal to substitute contaminated scraps for Lake Michigan coastal dunes, the state confronted Harbor Shores regarding the development schedule for the mitigation parks. Harbor Shores then devised a Mitigation Strategy—two years after the public comment period had closed! None of the contents was available for the public to review and comment on.

“Parcel H

This 1.47 acre parcel (0.06 acres wetland) was adjacent to the Whirlpool production facility for many years but was never actually used for industrial activities. A limited residential closure (restricting use of groundwater) was approved for this parcel by the DEQ and the EPA in 2003. Subsequent data indicates generic residential direct contact criteria may be exceeded in the flood control berm material along the waterfront.

REMEDY: Removal of the flood control berm is scheduled during construction of the

marina. Any soil that is contaminated above generic residential direct contact criteria and that needs to be excavated will be disposed at a licensed landfill. Once the berm has been removed, 9 surface soil samples will be analyzed in the 1.41 upland acres to determine if additional remediation is necessary. If generic residential direct contact criteria is exceeded, excavate contaminated soil or install12" of sand sub-base as an exposure barrier and 3'' asphalt barrier in high traffic areas. A visible barrier such as geotextile fabric, construction fencing, or other obvious material will be installed beneath the 1211 sand sub-base to indicate any breech in the exposure barrier.”

NO SMOKING IN THIS AREA.

METHANE VENTING