Harbor Island
Activity Continues on Harbor Island as 11-acre Former Coal Pile is Removed. Read more about the Coal Pile Removal here.
Revitalizing Harbor Island
Harbor Island has been used for industrial purposed and waste disposal for over 100 years. These operations have resulted in environmental impacts that the City of Grand Haven is addressing in cooperation with EGLE. The ultimate goal is creating a plan to mitigate the health and environmental risks on Harbor Island.
Harbor Island Visioning
Community members from across Grand Haven helped to develop three draft concepts for Harbor Island. Use the arrows to scroll through the three concepts created after Day 2 of public feedback. These concepts are just the beginning of the conversation.
Harbor Island
Harbor Island is home to the former JB Sims site as well as wetlands, a boat launch, walking path, outdoor event venue, and soccer fields. Explore the map to learn more about the island's features.
Key Features
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Former JB Sims Plant
The JB Sims Plant closed in 2020. -
Impoundments
The impoundments served to manage the coal combustion residuals. -
Wetlands
Harbor Island is home to wetlands that draw a variety of birds and other wildlife.
PFAS Research
As part of the environmental investigation of the former JB Sims power plant, PFAS constituents were detected. In early 2022, the City’s environmental consultants began preparing a Work Plan to investigate PFAS at the former plant.
The City is working closely with EGLE on a holistic approach to cleanup Harbor Island. The City also is exploring potential future uses for the island once its environmental problems are remediated. The City continues to seek community input as this process moves along the timeline.
Renew Harbor Island ~ Work today, protect tomorrow
Assess: What is the risk level?
- No drinking water wells are located on Harbor Island
- Intake for municipal supply is located in Lake Michigan south of the mouth of the Grand River. The City of Grand Haven tests its drinking water at a higher rate than Michigan regulations require and no PFAS has been detected above Michigan Drinking Water Criteria
Plan: Where does the strategy start?
- Address areas where PFAS-contamined groundwater may be discharging to surface water (I.e. Grand River, South Channel, and wetlands) above regulatory criteria to mitigate potential human health exposure pathways.
Implement: How do we mitigate?
- Utilize tiered approach to mitigate highest risks for potential human health exposure first.
- Groundwater flow control to prevent PFAS-contamined groundwater from discharging to surface water above regulatory criteria with potential treatment of extracted groundwater prior to discharge.
- Evaluate benefit of localized source removal.
Maintain: Can we stay ahead of changing regulations?
- Operate, maintain and monitor (OMM)
- Routinely evaluate groundwater remedy performance.
- Modify objectives and routinely evaluate OMM plan to optimize and improve the groundwater remedy effectiveness and comply with changing regulations.
Harbor Island - Work Today, Protect Tomorrow
A mile upstream from Grand Haven’s stunning Lake Michigan shoreline sits Harbor Island, a once-industrial site where PFAS & CCR coexist. The City is working alongside experts on an in-depth environmental study to identify the extent of contamination and create a plan to address health & environmental risks. Watch the video to learn more about this work.
The ultimate goal is creating a plan to mitigate the health and environmental risks on Harbor Island.
