Keith Matheny

Detroit Free Press

Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun has met a wall on another of hisbridge proposals, this time to Harsens Island.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Monday denied Moroun's permit request for a 1,750-foot, two-lane, bascule bridge across the North Channel of the St. Clair River between Algonac and the island, citing "significant adverse impacts" on natural resources and the area's wetlands.

Currently, the only way to access the island is via boat or Champions Auto Ferry. Many residents opposed Moroun's bridge plan, citing its potential impacts to the laid-back quality of life on the island, as well as its natural resources. Some questioned whether the bridge would maintain financial viability or instead become a boondoggle that fell to Clay Township residents to maintain. Another concern was whether the bridge would drive the car ferry out of business or significantly spike fares. Still others worried about river ice jams in the winter caused by the bridge's pillars.

Residents worry bridge will 'destroy' Harsens Island

The mood was celebratory at the Sans Souci Bar on the island Monday evening, manager Terry Gajewski said.

"The islanders are very, very excited there’s no bridge," he said. "They don’t want a bunch of people on the island, and big trucks coming across."

The Detroit International Bridge Co. did not show a public need for the proposed bridge, Katie Fairchild, an environmental quality analyst with the DEQ's Water Resources Division, wrote in a notice of permit denial sent to Moroun's company Monday.

"When considering the stated project purpose of providing 'a reliable and safe transportation route between Algonac and Harsens Island,' the DEQ finds that the existing ferry service fulfills that purpose," Fairchild stated.

The bridge as proposed would "destroy Great Lakes coastal wetland and negatively impact habitat for breeding, nesting, feeding and cover for a wide variety of wildlife species," Fairchild stated. The bridge would also harm the wetland's ability to trap sediments and retain storm and flood waters, degrading the river, she added.

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Moroun has a 30-day window in which to appeal the DEQ's decision before an administrative law judge.

"We've not seen any correspondence so there would not be anything to comment on," Moroun spokesman Mickey Blashfield said.

Moroun's is not the first attempt to build a bridge between the mainland and Harsens Island. Fixed bridge proposals to the island were rejected in both 2001 and 2005, with the U.S. Coast Guard citing concerns about boat clearance requirements. Another bridge proposal was nixed by the DEQ in 2007, citing impacts to sturgeon spawning habitat, wetlands, and landowners' access and use of the waterway.

"I'm not sure why they keep trying, but islanders don't want a bridge," Gajewski said.

Contact Keith Matheny: 313-222-5021 or kmatheny@freepress.com. Free Press staff writer John Gallagher and Port Huron Times Herald staff writer Liz Shepard contributed to this report.