Ashland Ore Dock

News From 91.3 KUWS
Ashland ore dock falcons look to return/demolition set in two months
Story posted Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.3/30/2010


The demolition process of the Ashland ore dock is underway. Workers are putting up wire mesh barriers to prevent peregrine falcons from nesting on the 1800 foot long dock. Joe Cadotte reports.
Plans to take down the 94 year-old Ashland ore dock last summer came to an abrupt halt when the Department of Natural Resources discovered three young peregrine falcons nesting on the concrete/steel dock. Ashland Mayor Ed Monroe says workers are now using a 120 foot lift to reach the falcon nesting sight.
“They’re going to put up a lot of wire mesh just to keep the falcons from flying into where they would be nesting. But the whole time that they’re down there working there was one of the falcons sitting on one of the ore shoots watching him very intently, wondering ‘What the heck are you doing to my house?’ They’re not nesting yet, but they’re definitely thinking about it.”
The nesting falcons are just one of several barriers to tear down the ore dock. February the D.N.R. found evidence of fish habitat under the docks. And the intake for Ashland’s water supply is less than a quarter mile away from the ore dock. After four years of planning, Monroe is confident the demolition process won’t hurt the environment. He doesn’t think there’s opposition to raze the ore dock.
“I don’t think opposition. I think concern, just a sadness that something that’s been with us for so many years is going to go.”
Beginning in late May or early June the Ashland Ore Dock will be demolished one piece at a time by jackhammer.
It could take up to three years but Ashland Mayor Ed Monroe says the 1,800 foot ore dock needs to be taken down as carefully as possible.
“We pull lake water in, over a million gallons a day to supply the needs for the city. You’ve got everything from asbestos materials to lead paint issues coming off the dock. What if we detect these materials getting into our drink water?”
Monroe says demolition of the Ashland ore dock has been his priority since an incident happened more than four years ago.
“A piece of the concrete fell off and narrowly missed a child that was on the trail down below. And we petitioned the state. People are out of the dock all the time and it’s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt. We’ll remove than hazard from our community.”Monroe says the community will miss the ore docks.
“The dock itself is just a massive presence when you come in to the town. Watching the ore dock come down is going to be heart wrenching. Everybody loves the dock and presence that it’s got there. It’ll be a sight to see. The sadness of watching an old land mark go is one thing. But you can say you were here when it happened. And the pictures that you take and the memories that you have of it I guess we’ll take with us forever.”