Michels gets nearly $1M contract for Dane County phosphorus removal

Michels Corp. has won a nearly $1 million contract to remove sediment from a Dane County lake as part of the county’s “Suck the Muck” campaign to curtail phosphorus pollution.

Dane County officials announced Tuesday that Brownsville-based Michels will receive $981,640 to remove phosphorus-contaminated sediment from a six-mile creek in an area known as Mary Lake. The work, scheduled to start later this spring, will entail the removal of sentiment lying as much as seven feet deep in some places. All told, 25,000 tons of sediment – enough to fill 1,800 dump trucks – are to be taken elsewhere for disposal.

Phosphorus, a chemical commonly used in agriculture, is widely blamed for the algae blooms that befoul the bodies of water making up the Yahara Chain of Lakes system. Those include lakes Monona and Mendota, which form the isthmus in Madison.

Dane County’s $12 million Suck the Muck campaign was first included in the county budget in 2017. Since then, 31,000 tons of sediment, containing more than 100,000 pounds of phosphorus, have been removed.

“By cleaning up surrounding waterways, we help ensure they can be enjoyed for decades to come,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi in a news release. “Dane County values its natural resources, and we look forward to enhancing the water quality in Mary Lake through this ongoing initiative.”

All told, the county is looking at removing sediment, containing more than 100,000 pounds of phosphorus, from 33 miles of streams. The material is believed to have been deposited as long as 125 years ago. Besides making Yahara Chain lakes and connected streams and creeks cleaner, the work is expected to improve the habitats of native fish.