A color map showing the Buffalo Reef project area, with the stamp sands, Buffalo Reef, trough and other points of interest detailed.

Public comments are being accepted now through March 1 on the selected option and analysis of alternatives to protect Buffalo Reef in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, according to a Tuesday release from the Department of Natural Resources’ Deputy public information officer John Pepin.

The Buffalo Reef Task Force has issued its draft alternatives analysis for disposal of stamp sands removed from threatening valuable fish spawning and rearing habitat in and around the natural 2,200-acre reef, situated off the eastern coast of the Keweenaw Peninsula, the release says.

The three alternatives considered in the analysis include:

• Building an in-lake barricade around the original stamp sands pile to contain it;

• Disposing of stamp sand in a nearby upland landfill;

• Hauling the material to the mine tailings basins at the former White Pine Mine in Ontonagon County.

The task force, said Pepin, decided on pursuing construction of an upland landfill for disposal of stamp sands removed from the Lake Superior shoreline as its preferred alternative course of action.

The cost estimate for the project is $2.1 billion over the length of the project timeline.

Future challenges facing the project include acquiring property and finding an agency committed to owning and maintaining associated project features, such as a jetty to stop stamp sand migration in Lake Superior.

“The release of the draft Buffalo Reef Final Alternatives Analysis is the culmination of a couple years of gathering information and data to support the chosen alternative of creating a landfill for placement of the stamp sands,” task force member Stephanie Swart, Lake Superior coordinator for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, is quoted as saying. “The report contains analysis of the top three alternatives and discusses the formulation of the final alternatives and compares potential impacts.”

To help combat the threat posed to the reef and the harbor by the migrating stamp sands, various dredging efforts have taken place over the past few years, including removal of a 25-foot-high bank from the Lake Superior shoreline in 2019. Harbor dredging efforts by the KBIC and others have worked to keep the waterway open for fishing, boating and other recreation.

All public comments received will be discussed and considered by the Buffalo Reef Task Force. Please direct comments to Stephanie Swart, Great Lakes Management Unit, Water Resources Division, at SwartS@Michigan.gov, or by U.S. Mail at EGLE, Water Resources Division, Great Lakes Management Unit, P.O. Box 30458, Lansing, MI 48909-7958.

To read the draft alternatives analysis, for more information on the ongoing effort to save Buffalo Reef, or to sign-up for the latest email updates, visit Michigan.gov/BuffaloReef.