To the editor:

After nearly six weeks of dredging in the Traverse River by a Corp of Engineers contractor, the dreaded day came on Oct. 13. This is when the contractor positioned the dredge in the channel directly over the industrial waste (stamp sand) that washed over the side of the breakwall in recent storms.

I approached the contractor about the undesired result of pumping the industrial waste (stamp sand) onto the white sand of Big Traverse Bay. They contacted the Corp of Engineers of Duluth with our concern and were told, "Just keep pumping" as the permit specifies.

Two hours of pumping in the industrial waste (stamp sand) area the contractor had a plugged 12-inch pipe and I had a 15-foot by 20-foot by 5-foot high pile of industrial waste (stamp sand) directly in front of my beach, 10 feet off shore in 3 feet of water. The water was calm, so I knew I needed to act quickly.

My first call was to the Corp of Engineers in Duluth where the orders were coming from. Then I called State Representative Mike Lahti and State Senator Mike Prusi.

On the morning of Oct. 14, I received a call from Representative Lahti's office saying they were passing the information to Congressman Stupak's office, as it was a federal contract. I then called Congressman Stupak's local office and they said they passed the information on to the Michigan DEQ, because it was a state permit.

I never received a phone call from any agency that this information was being passed off to. (This may have been different if the year was 2010, rather than 2009.)

Thirty hours after this began, we experienced a heavy east wind which washed the big pile onto the beach with no resolution to the removal of the industrial waste, other than, "Just keep pumping."

On Oct. 16, three days after the dumping began and a day of east wind, we now had a 3-foot pile of industrial waste at water level with the 2-foot top spread on the white sand beach.

Now next summer, when our grandchildren and local swimmers use the private and public beaches of Big Traverse Bay and ask how this industrial waste got on the beach, just tell them we tried to save it but our government through the stimulus wanted to "spread the wealth."

David Juntti

Lake Linden