MUSKEGON – Pending final city of Muskegon approval, Melching Inc. and its internationally-renowned explosive demolition contractor plan to bring down the Sappi paper mill smokestack this Sunday morning.

The Muskegon City Commission voted 6-1 Tuesday evening to authorize staff to approve the demolition of the 250-foot stack if city departments sign off on the details. City ordinance does not allow demolition by explosives unless with written city approval.

Muskegon City Manager Bryon Mazade was non-committal after the commission vote. He said he was not yet prepared to approve the smokestack blast and was unable to say if approval would be granted before this Sunday.

Owners of Advanced Explosive Demolition of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho provided city commissioners with details of the blast plan, which would “lay” the 30-foot diameter stack on the ground to the north toward Muskegon Lake. Along with the stack, AED and Melching are asking for permission to use explosives to bring down a six-story tall, 50,000-square-foot former bleach plant that sits between the main paper mill facility and the lakeshore.

AED plans for a 9 or 10 a.m. explosion when it would be the least disruptive to the community, company President Lisa Kelly told The Chronicle. Lakeshore Drive from Cottage Grove to McCracken Avenue would be closed for about 15 minutes prior to the blast to 15 minutes after.

The event, whenever it occurs, will provide quite a public spectacle. AED and property owner Melching will have a VIP viewing area along with one for the media. The public will have plenty of opportunity to view the demolition with the Cottage Grove launch ramp parking lot probably one of the prime locations.

The regulations for a blast that will bring the stack to the ground in seconds calls for a 500-foot security zone that no one will be able to be within and another 750-security zone in which the public must be behind, AED officials said.

“If this blast did take the stack in the wrong direction there is a 300-foot zone that it would fall into,” property owner Doug Melching told commissioners. But it would not reach Lakeshore Drive, he said.

“But that’s not going to happen,” Melching assured the city commission.

“We believe that we have taken into consideration all of the wildest fears,” Kelly told commissioners. “We’ve covered it all. Safety is always our top concern.”

Before Tuesday’s meeting, Mazade told The Chronicle that city officials from the police, fire, inspections and public works departments are reviewing the detailed AED plans. Concerns include potential damage to underground utilities, the transportation and storage of the explosives, the safety zone and closure of Lakeshore Drive among other items, Mazade said.

“We are not through all of the issues yet,” Mazade said.

The concern of a group of Occupy Muskegon members was for the potential of pollution coming from the 109-year-old industrial facility that could get into Muskegon Lake or the air. Melching purchased the vacant industrial plant last year and has begun demolition with hopes of creating a lakefront industrial center with deep-port access to the Great Lakes.

Kelly told the Occupy Muskegon members and city officials that the smokestack that vented the paper mill’s old boilers has been cleaned and contains no hazardous materials.

“This is the safest way of bringing down the stack without hurting anyone,” Kelly said. “We have cleaned the stack of contaminates.”

Occupy Muskegon member Dan Mills of North Muskegon told commissioners not to rely on the opinions of the “experts” but go to the people to get approval. Mills didn’t say how such a community consensus was to be determined.

Commissioner Willie German, Jr. was the only commission vote against granting approval for the stack demolition at this time. He said after the meeting that back-up plans for potential problems were not well defined by AED officials. He said he had concerns about environmental issues surrounding the blast.

Email: dalexander@muskegonchronicle.com