KALAMAZOO, MI

— Enbridge, Inc. has started

as timeline and weather concerns have caused it to move forward without the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's official approval.

Aerial view of an excavator digging into Morrow Lake for submerged oil as an boat follows Friday, August 26.

Jason Manshum, senior advisor of community relations for Enbridge, confirmed dredging of the Morrow Lake Delta began Monday, but because Enbridge is required to be out of the water before it freezes, the company decided to move forward with work before getting the EPA's official approval.

"We have had verbal comments from the EPA and we have an ongoing dialogue," Manshum said. "We have not received the work plan approval, but we are progressing with plans because we need to complete this part of the project to be compliant with our agreement to be out of the water before it freezes."

Manshum said Enbridge is not expected to be penalized for beginning the work early. He said crews are expected to be working at the site for four to six weeks, but that they will leave early if the water freezes before the project is finished.

This hurried effort is caused, in part, by the EPA's deadline for Enbridge to complete additional dredging of the

Enbridge was able to complete dredging in the four other areas, but after a site plan for a dredge pad in

, Enbridge was left searching for a solution.

Earlier this month, the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners and Comstock Township officials signed off on a plan to allow Enbridge to set up a dredge operation on four acres of land at River Oaks County Park, although Manshum admitted this will only allow Enbridge to partially complete the EPA's order.

The EPA has said it will not speculate on what action it might take if Enbridge doesn't meet its dredging deadline.

The operation is similar to the one proposed for Comstock Commerce Park, with the major difference being that Enbridge would pump roughly 17,000 cubic yards of dredged sediment from vacuums on barges into holding tanks where river water will be filtered out and put back into Morrow Lake. The sediment will be transferred to tanker trucks and hauled to an existing dredge pad at the Ceresco Dam in Calhoun County to be dried out there before being mixed with cement and taken to landfills, according to Chris Haux, project manager for Enbridge.

As part of the agreement with the county, Enbridge agreed to place $300,000 in an escrow account to repair the River Oaks Park road and parking lot it will utilize. Enbridge will pay any additional costs if the repairs exceed $300,000.

Kalamazoo County will also be compensated $40,000 for allowing Enbridge access to four acres of the park.

About 85 trucks a day will travel on the park road, which was designed for light traffic, Haux said. Trucks are traveling from M-96 to 35th Street to I-94 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and are utilizing as many right turns as possible to minimize road impact.

Alex Mitchell covers county government and taxes for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email him at amitche5@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter.