{"id":673,"date":"2025-05-19T11:54:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T16:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/centerforwaterpolicy\/?p=673"},"modified":"2025-10-14T13:00:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:00:22","slug":"is-the-proposed-dredged-material-management-facility-an-opportunity-for-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/centerforwaterpolicy\/is-the-proposed-dredged-material-management-facility-an-opportunity-for-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Proposed Dredged Material Management Facility an Opportunity for the Community?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern spans roughly 10 miles spread across three rivers and includes Milwaukee\u2019s inner and outer harbor. Cleaning this area requires dredging the riverbeds and lakebed to remove contaminated sediment, but where does it go? The plan is to send it to a new Dredged Material Management Facility \u2014 an in-lake landfill on the east side of Jones Island, next to the Port of Milwaukee. This approximately $500M historic cleanup should result in extensive benefits to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, the Center for Water Policy\u2019s published research explained why the Dredged Material Management Facility must be consistent with the state\u2019s public trust doctrine. The Center\u2019s researchers Sarah Martinez and Melissa Scanlan conducted a legal analysis and you may read their published findings, \u201cGreat Lakes Restoration and the Public Trust Doctrine: Milwaukee\u2019s Restoration Obstacles and Opportunities<\/a>\u201d in Sea Grant Law & Policy Journal Vol 12:1 (2022).  This research explores the legal issues around this facility including: What is public enough to satisfy the public trust doctrine? Can the state and other developers exclude the public? What are the permissible uses on the newly created 42 acres of lakefront?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may watch our January 2022 Public Rights in Milwaukee\u2019s Fresh Coast panel discuss this topic and others\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and read our short analysis in this\u00a0October 2022 Public Rights in MKE Fresh Coast Policy Brief (PDF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We identified the Clean Water Act\u2019s Section 401 Water Quality Certification as a decision point where the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) could require the protection of public trust rights.  The WDNR issued the Certification on October 5, 2023, and included protections for public rights.  You may read our short analysis of the Certification decision in this November 2023 Public Rights Policy Brief (PDF)<\/a> and link to the decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

View the full Water Quality Certification (PDF)<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore the work of Professor James Wasley, the Center for Water Policy\u2019s 2024\u20132025 Water Policy Scholar, as he examines the future of the Dredged Material Disposal Facility at the Port of Milwaukee. This evolving lakefront site presents an opportunity to create new public space, ecological habitat, and community resilience in the heart of the city. Watch our short video and Earth Day webinar below to see how this local project fits into a broader movement across the Great Lakes to transform post-industrial waterfronts for public good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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