DEQ to host public hearing on new road to Kennecot mine

MARQUETTE — DEQ officials today announced a public hearing to discuss a proposed new road in Marquette County.

The Marquette County Road Commission has submitted to the DEQ an application for a series of permits to create Marquette County Road 595, a proposed 21-mile road to connect US-41 with County Road AAA.

The Marquette County Road Commission's stated purpose is to construct a new primary county road that will improve emergency, commercial, industrial, and recreational access to northwest Marquette County and reduce truck travel through Marquette County's population centers.

The proposed road project connecting US-41 near Humboldt to County Road AAA near Kennecott's Eagle Mine requires wetland, inland lake and stream, and floodplain permits. The DEQ has determined the road commission's application is administratively complete, and the department will host a Feb. 21 public hearing to receive comments on the proposal. The hearing starts at 6 p.m. at the Country Village Banquet and Conference Center, 1011 North Road, in Ishpeming.

A significant goal of DEQ's review is to solicit comments from the public, Department of Natural Resources and the United States Environmental Protection Agency on the reasonably foreseeable benefits and detriments of the proposed road, as well as feasible and prudent alternatives to achieve the purpose of the road.

The entire application can be viewed online at www.michigan.gov/jointpermit under the "What's New" category. Written public comments, accepted through March 2, should be sent to DEQ, 420 5th Street, Gwinn, MI 49841.

The deadline for completing this review is June 15. That deadline can be extended to July 9 by mutual agreement of DEQ and Marquette County Road Commission. For additional information, please contact Steve Casey, DEQ Water Resources Division, at 906-346-8535.