1. Read through these articles I've put in chronological order. Follow the links and watch the films,
look at the pictures. Connect the dots and take a look at what's just under the surface. I think the
following information will help one see the Sappi picture more clearly. You can reach your own
conclusions and act as you best see fit from there.
Enjoy! :)
 US Union, CEPPWAWU Protest at Sappi AGM
ICEM News release No. 11/2004
 http://www.icem.org/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/1124-US-Union-CEPPWAWU-
Protest-at-Sappi-AGM
Union members of two ICEM affiliates rallied today against the anti-union practices of global
paper company Sappi Ltd. outside the firm's Annual General Meeting in Johannesburg, South
Africa.
Representatives of US-based Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, Energy (PACE) Workers Union
joined union brothers and sisters from South African Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood
and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) to condemn the company's aggressive attempts to
weaken workers' rights in both countries.
The PACE delegation and CEPPWAWU leaders then gained entry to the AGM, while
CEPPWAWU members continued to rally outside the firm's headquarters in the Braamfontein
financial district of Johannesburg.
"We have taken this action to serve notice to Sappi management that its refusal to deal fairly
with workers and their unions must come to an end," declared CEPPWAWU President Pasco
Dyani, himself a Sappi employee at the Adamas paper mill in Port Elizabeth. "We are pleased to
join with union members from America to build the international solidarity necessary to confront
Sappi's attacks on working families."
CEPPWAWU represents workers at Sappi's seven paper mills across South Africa. The union is
in dispute with the firm over management demands to unilaterally impose so-called "labour
market flexibility" that would severely weaken the union's ability to protect workers' rights on
the shop floor.
In the US, PACE Union members have been without new labour agreements for over a year at
two Sappi paper mills in Somerset and Westbrook, Maine. Sappi managers at those locations
have proposed to drastically cut workers' income and health care benefits. Sappi has also
proposed substantial cuts in retiree health benefits. PACE members at the two mills and a third
US mill in Muskegon, Michigan, have formed a bargaining alliance to reject management's

2. demands for concessions.
"Sappi stakeholders should understand that management's attempts to lower the living standards
of working families and diminish the rights of workers on the shop floor places the company on
a collision course with labour," stated Keith Romig, Director of National and International
Affairs for PACE.
The labour agreement at the Muskegon mill is scheduled to expire in June. Together, the three
mills account for more than 80 percent of Sappi's fine paper production in North America, and
25% of production worldwide.
The ICEM assisted the two affiliates' actions in Johannesburg today. While in South Africa,
PACE, CEPPWAWU and ICEM representatives will lay a foundation for more effective
cooperation among unions representing Sappi workers worldwide.
"Every Sappi mill in South Africa, Europe and North America is organized by trade unions
affiliated with the ICEM," said ICEM Paper and Chemical Sectors Officer Marc Welters. "By
building stronger bonds between all unions at Sappi, workers will gain the strength to deal
effectively with this company's hostile approach to labour relations."

3.  Sappi Fine Paper reaffirms sustainability commitment
 http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/17098/sappi-fine-paper-reaffirms-sustainability-
commitment
With the celebration of Earth Day on April 22, Sappi Fine Paper North America on April 21
announced that it will continue supporting Living Lands & Waters in 2009 and reaffirmed its
commitment to operating sustainably.
As part of Sappi Fine Paper North America's corporate sponsorships, since 2007, the company
has supported Living Lands & Waters, a non-profit, environmental organization focused on the
protection, preservation and restoration of America's major rivers and their watersheds. Last
year, Sappi and Living Lands & Waters co-organized and participated in river cleanups in
Louisville, Ky., and this year, Sappi will invite employees and customers to participate in future
cleanups to be held in the Midwest, which is where the organization is based. With Sappi's
support in 2008, Living Lands & Waters' activities included removing 250 tons of garbage from
America's rivers; reaching over 2,500 educators and students through educational workshops and
in-school presentations; and cultivating over 338,000 viable acorns in their nursery as part of
their MillionTrees Project.
"Sappi Fine Paper North America is pleased to continue its corporate sponsorship of Living
Lands & Waters, for it is an environmental organization that is truly remarkable in its mission
and its grassroots approach to cleaning up our nation's rivers and watersheds. Our support for
Living Lands & Waters is just one of the many ways that Sappi is demonstrating our ongoing
commitment to sustainability," said Jennifer Miller, executive vice president of marketing and
communications, Sappi Fine Paper North America.
Sustainability is fundamental to Sappi Fine Paper North America's corporate strategy and below
are highlights of some of its sustainability initiatives:
Triple chain of custody certification: As of February 2008, each of Sappi's coated fine paper
mills in North America – Somerset Mill, Muskegon Mill and Cloquet Mill – have triple chain of
custody certifications to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC), and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) programs, and
renewed certification to the 2005-2009 SFI Standard, which was first achieved in 2004. In
addition, the Cloquet and Somerset Mills are also certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiatives'
Fiber Sourcing program. All certifications were achieved through independent third-party audits
managed by Bureau Veritas.
Offering products with post-consumer waste fiber: Sappi Fine Paper North America's coated
fine paper mills use recycled fiber derived from post-consumer waste (PCW) to make Sappi
papers available with 10 to 30 percent PCW.

4. Limiting contribution to greenhouse gases: Sappi Fine Paper North America is committed to
reducing energy consumption and the use of fossil fuels in order to reduce the generation of
greenhouse gases. More than 75 percent of all energy used in Sappi's North American mills
comes from renewable resources including hydroelectric power, and the burning of biomass and
black liquor. Sappi's environmental initiatives at its mills have resulted in a 30 percent decrease
per ton in CO2 emissions across all Sappi Fine Paper North America manufacturing sites from
2004 to 2008. The Cloquet Mill is certified by the Center for Resource Solutions as a Green-e
provider. One-hundred percent of the electricity used in the manufacturing of McCoy, Opus
sheets with 30 percent post-consumer waste (PCW), Opus web with 30 percent PCW and LOE,
is certified renewable energy that is generated onsite by Sappi.
Commitment to the communities where the company work: Sappi Fine Paper North
America's sites build strong community relationships and donate and/or volunteer at local non-
profit organizations, which include supporting programs in education, youth at risk and AIDS
prevention.
Achieving ISO 14001:2004 certification: The environmental management systems at Sappi's
coated fine paper mills in North America are certified to the ISO 14001:2004 standard – the
internationally accepted standard used to demonstrate an organization's commitment to the
environment.

5.  Sappi Paper mill to close permanently
Published: Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 12:11 PM Updated: Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 6:08 PM
By Lynn Moore | The Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/08/sappi_paper_mill_to_close_pe
rm.html
Sappi Fine Paper North America announced this morning the permanent closing of its Muskegon
mill, ending a 109-year tradition of making paper in the city of Muskegon.
The company suspended operations in April at the plant on Muskegon Lake. It will not reopen
the massive industrial facility, leaving 190 union and salaried workers without a job.
The decision by the South African paper giant to end its Muskegon operations was based upon
the "global economic downturn," company officials said.
"The permanent closure of the Muskegon mill, while an extremely difficult decision to make, is
necessary to ensure that we remain competitive in today's global marketplace," said Ralph
Boettger, head of Sappi Limited in Johannesburg.
Mark Gardner, president and CEO of Sappi Fine Paper North America in Boston and a former
Muskegon mill manager, said the decision to close the operation is not a reflection on the local
workers. Sappi production workers are represented by the United Steel Workers of America
Local 1015.
"We understand the hardship this decision creates for our employees at the Muskegon mill,"
Gardner said. "Our workforce in Muskegon is very dedicated, achieving record productivity and
safety performance in the last year of operation. Unfortunately, the scale of the site made it
difficult to successfully compete against larger paper mills throughout the world."
Workers have been hopeful the paper mill would reopen this fall but have braced themselves for
the worst, according to Mark Evans -- a 29-year veteran Sappi production worker and member of
the Local 1015 bargaining committee. Union officials were told less than an hour before the
formal announcement was made this morning.
"The Asians can sell the paper cheaper than we can make it," Evans said of the global realities.
"This is foreign competition killing the American worker again."

6. Sappi is now hiring an "advisor" to seek purchasers for the Muskegon mill but the company will
not be selling the property or its manufacturing assets in the coated paper or writing paper sector,
Gardner said.
"We will be discussing with company officials the use of that property going into the future,"
said Muskegon Mayor Steve Warmington of the site that has nearly one mile of Muskegon Lake
shoreline. City officials are meeting with Sappi management Thursday, Warmington said.

7.  Sappi Fine Paper North America Announces Public
Auction of Muskegon Mill Assets August 6, 2010
 http://www.na.sappi.com/aboutus/news/2010-08-6
– BOSTON - Sappi Fine Paper North America announced today that a public auction will be
held September 29, 2010 by LiquiTec Industries, in association with Can-Am Machinery, to sell
the assets from Sappi's permanently closed coated paper mill in Muskegon, Michigan.
Equipment from the Muskegon pulp mill, paper mill, and converting facility, will be for sale.
Primary assets up for bid include a 174" wire width paper machine wet end, 2004 Bielomatik
folio ream wrapper, Jagenberg Synchro 86" folio sheeter, Jagenberg converting complex sheeter
and ream carton packaging line, Voith pulper, and a MSK/Covertech automatic shrink wrap skid
carton line. For a list of the Muskegon Mill assets up for bid, visit: www.liquitec.net. For
additional information regarding the auction, contact Cate Giltner with LiquiTec Industries, Inc.
at 800-852-9252 or cgiltner@liquitec.net.

8.  AED's Website
 http://www.biggerblast.com/
 Demolition Gone Wrong (video)
Uploaded by elitedata on Nov 11, 2010
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxdCwqJe1os
 Stack Demolition Falls Wrong Way
November 12, 2010
By JOSELYN KING Staff Writer With AP Dispatches
 http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/548787/Stack-Demolition-Falls-
Wrong-Way.html?nav=515
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - A demolition project went wrong this week for a firm associated with
the proposed removal of the Bellaire Toll Bridge.
Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc. - the demolition crew featured on the reality television
show "The Imploders" - was taking down a nearly 300-foot smokestack at an old Ohio power
plant Wednesday when it toppled in the wrong direction. The motion sent spectators scrambling
before knocking down two 12,000-volt power lines and crashing onto a building housing backup
generators, officials said.
No injuries were reported after the 275-foot tower at the unused 83-year-old Mad River Power
Plant teetered and then fell in a southeast direction - instead of east, as originally planned -
seconds after explosives were detonated.
Lisa Kelly, president of AED, said the explosives detonated correctly, but an undetected crack on
the south side of the tower pulled it in a different direction.

9. "Nobody's happy with things that go wrong in life, and sometimes it's out of our hands and
beyond anybody's prediction. ... We're all extremely thankful no one was injured," Kelly added.
In September, AED filed a legal complaint in Kootenai County, Idaho, court against Delta
Demolition and KDC Investments, Delta attorney Jeremy Domoczik confirmed. The complaint
surrounds the issue of whether AED or Delta Demolition/KDC owns the Bellaire Toll Bridge
and who has the right to take it down.
AED purchased the bridge last spring from Bellaire businessman Roger Barack for $1. The firm
then reportedly sold the bridge to Krystle Chaklos of Delta Demolition - under the name KDC
Investments - for $25,000. Indications then were that KDC and Delta Demolition would use
AED to take the span down with an explosion.

10.  Smoke stack implosion: What went wrong? (w/ video)
Company hired for implosion has perfect record
Updated: Friday, 12 Nov 2010, 9:38 AM EST
 http://www.wdtn.com/dpp/news/local/springfield/smoke-stack-implosion-what-went-
wrong%3F
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WDTN) - 2 News has learned new information about the wayward
demolition that put Springfield in the headlines.
Video of the smoke stack mistake made several national news shows.
Company officials now say a crack on the side of the smokestack may be to blame in this
demolition gone wrong.
The Idaho based company Advanced Explosives Demolition was hired for the project. 2 News
has learned the company has a perfect safety record.
It is a small family based company, located in Couer D'Alene, and the owners have been
toppling towers, smoke stacks, and blasting buildings for thirty years.
According the company's website, they have no OSHA citations.
Experts say demolition mistakes can happen, and are common.
The company was imploding the Mad River smoke stack on Wednesday afternoon, but the tower
fell in the wrong direction, crushing a power station, and toppling 12,500 volt power lines.
Members of the media and spectators on the sidelines had to run for their lives, as power lines
came crashing down toward them.
2 News videographer said the power lines knocked a hard hat off a child's head.
Many members of the media had commented about the proximity to power lines as they waited
for the implosion.
"I said something to one of the guys, I said if that thing falls backward, it's going to take out the
lines. He says it's not going to happen," said Hatcher.
"Then the blast went off, and it sat there for a minute. It was like, it just seemed like forever, and
then it started to sway backwards and immediately we knew that this is bad," added Hatcher.

11. Power lines snapped like twigs with the weight of the 275 foot tall structure.
"The lines were dancing around like jump ropes, double dutch. Two ropes going opposite
directions, just swinging around and you don't know where they're going to go," said Hatcher.
Officials were celebrating the fact that everyone walked away from the incident without a
scratch.
"It was a close call, there's no doubt about it. 24,000 volts will kill you in a second. There's no
second chance," said Hatcher.
Advanced Explosives Demolition is run by a husband and wife team. They were actually
featured in a TLC documentary called "The Imploders".
Our calls to the company headquarters in Idaho were not returned on Thursday.

12.  Melching's Web Site
 http://www.melchingdemolition.com/
 Melching Inc. of Nunica buys the Sappi Fine Paper mill
property on Muskegon Lake
Published: Thursday, August 25, 2011, 4:10 PM Updated: Thursday, August 25, 2011, 4:50 PM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2011/08/melching_inc_of_nunica_buys_th.html?utm_source=feedbur
ner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+oak_business_review+%28Oakland
+Business+Review+-+MLive.com%29
MUSKEGON — Sappi Fine Paper North American made the stunning announcement Thursday
afternoon that a West Michigan demolition company has purchased its vacant mill on a
sprawling Muskegon Lake site.
Melching Inc. of Nunica has purchased the South African company's Muskegon plant and
waterfront property for an undisclosed price, company officials said. The purchase includes
about 119 acres and nearly a mile of Muskegon Lake waterfront property in the city of
Muskegon's Lakeside neighborhood.
"Sappi Fine Paper of North America slected Melching Inc. as the buyer based on its expertise
and successful track record in addressing industrial sites, strong long-term relationships in the
local area and robust redevelopment plans," said Sappi Vice President Anne Ayer.
According to Sappi officials, Melching is reviewing plans to redevelop the site for a "variety of
industrial uses." Melching is a demolition, dismantling and industrial remediation services
company. Sanabe & Associates LLC was Sappi's financial advisor in the transaction that was
completed Thursday, company officials said.
Sappi and previous paper companies had produced product on the Muskegon mill site for more
than 100 years. Sappi permanently ended operations on the site in August 2009 "due to industry
and economic conditions," the company said. In 2010, the company had a massive auction of its
equipment.

13.  Jonathan Seely FOX 17 Web Producer (w/video)
8:54 p.m. EDT, August 25, 2011
MUSKEGON, Mich.—
 http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox17-muskegon-paper-mill-sells-sappi-fine-paper-
sells-former-muskegon-plant-20110825,0,2666326.story
Sappi Fine Paper North America announced Thursday the sale of their Muskegon Mill site to
Melching, Inc. The Muskegon plant is a former pulp mill, paper mill and converting facility.
Sappi closed the site in August 2009, citing unfavorable industry and economic conditions.
Melching is said to be looking into redeveloping the site for a variety of industrial uses.
In a statement published on the Sappi website, Sappi stated that Melching, Inc. was selected as a
buyer for the site based on a successful track record with industrial sites, and robust
redevelopment plans among other reasons.
Melching is a demolition and industrial remediation services company based in Nunica,
Michigan. Exact plans for the site are not known at this time.

14.  Sappi paper mill in Muskegon bought by Nunica
company
7:00 PM, Aug 26, 2011
 http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/176900/2/Sappi-paper-mill-in-Muskegon-bought-by-
Nunica-company
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM) - A demolition company from Nunica, Michigan has purchased
the former Sappi paper mill in Muskegon.
Melching, Inc. announced Friday that it has purchased the former paper mill site in hopes of
redeveloping the property. In a press statement, Brandon Murphy, the Operations Manager for
Melching says that they are currently "working on a robust plan of redevelopment, and have
several interested parties."
The statement goes on to say that they are looking for what is best for the Muskegon community.
The first phase of the project will be the removal of obsolete equipment.
Sappi suspended operations at the Muskegon mill in April of 2009 and permanently ceased
operations at the plant in August of 2009.

15.  Nunica company buys closed Muskegon paper mill
Mark Brooky
02:48 PM
Aug 27
2011
 http://sip-phones.tmcnet.com/news/2011/08/27/5735675.htm
MUSKEGON, Aug 27, 2011 (Grand Haven Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
via COMTEX) -- A Northwest Ottawa County demolition company has purchased the Sappi
paper mill in Muskegon, which closed two years ago.
Officials from Melching Inc. of Nunica announced Friday that they have purchased the former
paper mill site in hopes of redeveloping the nearly 120-acre property on Lakeshore Drive, along
the south shore of Muskegon Lake.
In a press statement, Melching Operations Manager Brandon Murphy said that they are currently
"working on a robust plan of redevelopment, and have several interested parties." The first phase
of the project will be the removal of obsolete equipment, Murphy said.
The paper mill in Muskegon's Lakeside district first opened in 1900 as the Central Paper Co. It
was bought by S.D. Warren Co. in 1953 with about 700 people working there at the time,
according to a website run by the S.D. Warren employees association. In 1967, S.D. Warren
became a subsidiary of the Scott Paper Co.
Sappi Ltd., a South Africa-based company, bought the paper mill in 1994. According to Sappi
officials, market conditions changed over the next 15 years and it suspended operations at the
Muskegon mill in April 2009, then permanently shut it down four months later.
Sappi Fine Paper North America, which has U.S. headquarters in Boston, announced the sale to
Melching Inc. on Thursday.
"Sappi ... selected Melching Inc. as the buyer based on its expertise and successful track record
in addressing industrial sites, strong long-term relationships in the local area and robust
redevelopment plans," Anne Ayer, vice president of corporate development for Sappi, said in a
statement.
Melching Demolition was founded in 1986 by Doug Melching, the company's president. It
provides demolition, environmental and asbestos abatement work in commercial, industrial and
residential markets.

16.  Future of Sappi paper mill site in Muskegon likely to be
industrial use
Published: Sunday, August 28, 2011, 6:03 AM Updated: Sunday, August 28, 2011, 9:31 AM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2011/08/the_future_of_the_muskegon_pap.html
MUSKEGON — As large portions of the Sappi paper mill begin to crumble down, don't expect
residential condominiums, marinas, waterfront restaurants and art shops to sprout up in their
place.
It seems the future of the Sappi Fine Paper mill property on Muskegon Lake will remain
industrial in nature for decades to come. That could mean jobs with family-sustaining wages for
Muskegon County residents.
Sappi Fine Paper North America last week sold the massive 119-acre mill site at 2400 Lakeshore
on the edge of Muskegon's Lakeside Neighborhood to Melching Inc. The purchase price of the
site on Muskegon Lake with nearly a mile of waterfront was not disclosed.
Since the Sappi property sale was made public, the future of the critical waterfront site has been
a topic of speculation throughout the Muskegon area, city of Muskegon officials said.
Community leaders said the Sappi property sale was a significant development for Muskegon.
In announcing the sale, Sappi said the new owners — a large demolition company in Nunica —
will redevelop the site for “industrial” use. A statement from Melching late Friday indicated the
same, but no specifics were offered.
“Melching … purchased this property in hopes of redeveloping the site and generating new jobs
within the community of Muskegon,” according to a statement signed by Brandon Murphy,
Melching operations manager.
“We are currently working on a robust plan of redevelopment and have several interested
parties,” Murphy said in the brief statement. “We are still seeking new plans for redevelopment
but will be strongly influenced by what is best for the Muskegon community and its economic
future.”

17. Doug Melching, company founder and president, told The Chronicle late last week that his
company had been working on the Sappi purchase for more than two years. He said his company
was investigated by the South African paper company and selected among five other companies.
"It was a long haul," Melching said of the deal. "For me, it's all about Muskegon. We are taking a
huge risk but we have put together a great team that will make this happen."
As the sale of the property was completed Thursday, new signs appeared at the paper mill plant
entrance that included Melching Demolition and Dismantling, Lakeshore Environmental Inc. of
Grand Haven and HarborPointe Realty and its agent Mike Murphy.
Those in the demolition and industrial real estate development sectors say they suspect that
Melching is the public company for a team that is supporting the redevelopment. They speculate
that other prominent West Michigan companies also may be involved in the purchase and
redevelopment plans.
Muskegon Mayor Steve Warmington said he had a brief conversation with Murphy a week
before the sale was completed. He said the city's discussions with Sappi over the months since
the plant closed in August 2009 makes it clear residential development is out.
“In our conversations at the city with Sappi, I would suspect that there is a provision in the
(Melching) buy-sell agreement that there would be absolutely no residential on the property
going forward,” Warmington said, adding that Murphy indicated the same. Murphy was
unavailable for comment.
Warmington said Sappi offered the waterfront property to the city if the city would accept
environmental liabilities. Those knowledgeable about the Sappi property offer said the company
would not allow a prospective buyer to complete environmental soil testing prior to completing
the deal.
Warmington said that without such environmental assessments, the city's attorney and
environmental consultant advised the city not to take possession of the mill property.
“The indication from the general manager of the mill was that there are no real hot spots of
environmental contamination but that the property has environmental issues,” Warmington said.
“They didn't think there were any major environmental issues. I don't think there is anything
there that the community needs to be worried about.”
The environmental issues on the site are now the concern of the new owners. Melching officials
declined to discuss specific environmental issues concerning the property.
If the Sappi site is redeveloped for industrial-type uses, the environmental cleanup of the site is
set at a lower standard, thus saving the new owners and potentially Sappi major environmental
costs, according to city officials and those with “brownfield” redevelopment expertise.

18. The property remains zoned “general industrial” in the city's zoning ordinance — the heaviest
industrial zoning available. That would allow for everything from further paper and pulp
manufacturing to a foundry or chemical plant, according to city ordinance.
“As a community, we are excited about the potential for new jobs,” Warmington said. “We
certainly hope for more rather than fewer jobs but realize we will not replace the 1,000 jobs that
Sappi once had at the mill.
“Anyone who looks to operate on the site needs to be sensitive to the adjacent residential area
and the location on the waterfront,” Warmington said.
For the immediate future, Warmington said the new owners indicate they will have a user of the
deep-water slip and work with those interested in restarting the power plant that can produce
both electricity and steam.
Most of the remaining buildings, Warmington said, would be demolished. Sappi is a huge,
sprawling industrial complex that has been built up since the former Central Paper Co. began
operation on the site in 1899.
The plant demolition is expected to take up to a year to complete and would employ more than
100 workers over that time, Warmington said of what the new owners have indicated.
“The initial phase of the project will consist of removing obsolete equipment and maintaining the
site before moving forward with redevelopment,” Murphy said in a Melching statement on the
Sappi purchase.
City of Muskegon officials have heard from many companies and groups interested in
purchasing or redeveloping the Sappi site, Warmington said. Those parties had redevelopment
plans for the mill power plant while others wanted to manufacture and distribute wind turbines,
create a shipyard and set up an environmental reclamation operation, he said.
The kind of uses being proposed created jobs and sewage flow to the Muskegon County
Wastewater Management System, the mayor said. Sappi was the wastewater system's largest
user and the plant closure drastically reduced the flow to the county facility, causing an increase
in sewer rates for municipalities and industries.
No group has more emotional interest in the future of the site than former workers. Steve
Keglovitz worked at the paper mill for years and is a former union president. He now heads the
West Michigan Labor Council.
“I was kind of disappointed to see the sale was to a reclamation firm,” Keglovitz said. “There is a
lot of good equipment on that site such as the power plant and a water system less than 20 years
old. It wasn't bargain-basement stuff. We put in good equipment that I hate to see demolished.”
But when it comes to the future use of the property, Kegloivitz said he is encouraged by the
signals being sent by Sappi and the new owners.

19. “I hope they keep it heavy industrial,” Keglovitz said. “The cost of cleaning up that property for
residential use will be too much … the site would then just sit there.”

20.  Sappi paper mill property owner Doug Melching
explains his purchase and plans
Published: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 6:21 AM Updated: Monday, October 17, 2011, 10:38 AM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2011/10/paper_mill_property_owner_doug.html?utm_source=feedbur
ner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+oak_business_review+%28Oakland
+Business+Review+-+MLive.com%29
MUSKEGON — Doug Melching is a veteran West Michigan demolition expert and business
owner. His company Melching Inc. of Nunica purchased the former Sappi paper mill property on
Muskegon Lake last month for $2.3 million.
Last week, Melching answered questions from The Muskegon Chronicle on his purchase.
Q: What is your motivation for purchasing the Muskegon paper mill property?
A: Motivation for this endeavor is employment for Melching Inc., job creation for Muskegon
and the overall West Michigan economic development. The land will not be “flipped.” Other
interested parties will have the opportunity to propose offers, leases, buy and/or develop sections
as they see appropriate for their use.
Q: What kind of “industrial” use do you have in mind for the property?
A: Proposed development plans currently under consideration are: Reactivation of the existing
power house, general land clearance of above-grade structures, improvements to the existing ship
dock and shoreline with future “dry-dock” availability and the possibility of wind or solar-
powered bio-mass energy development. Generally, the establishment of multiple industrially
based business enterprises that would benefit from establishment of multiple industrial
enterprises that would benefit from rail, truck and water-based transportation needing large
tracks of land and warehousing.
Q: What is the initial work-plan for the property?
A: Remove any or all existing obsolete site structures in an economic and environmentally safe
procedure to accommodate a “new industrial community” of potential partners, leases or owners.
All the former mill structures may be targeted for demolition if redevelopment uses for the
existing structures are not found or conducive to reuse. We are underway now and with the
cooperation of government entities will continue until these goals are met or completed.

21. Q: What is your basic understanding of the environmental condition of the property?
A: The site largely consists of non-hazardous inert soils, foundry sand, lime, coal and former
wood-based products. Exhaustive investigation has been performed to assess the environmental
condition of the site. The information generated from these investigations has been evaluated and
no currently known litigation issues exist. Our investigative work revealed that the recent past
site owners sought to maintain a sound environmental approach regarding all environmental
concerns. Future operations will be conducted in a manner that adheres to applicable regulatory
standards.
Q: What are the deed and covenant restrictions on the property?
A: The restricted parcels may be used for industrial purposes only. Perspective clients are
informed of the restrictive elements and covenants as detailed in the deed. Potential business
partners are interviewed for financial ability to participate and based on the deed covenants will
need to be financially sound independent of banks.
Nearly the entire site was constructed with fill material and wood products for over 100 years.
Restricted areas are areas that the former owner desires to be controlled. These areas, although
contaminated, are not of a hazardous composition and based upon available environmental
records are within industrial criteria parameters. To insure governmental compliance and as
required within the covenants in these areas, Melching Inc. has retained the services of
Lakeshore Environmental Inc. Demolition in these areas will be carefully monitored and the
restrictions will be maintained.
Q: What is the overall message you have for the Muskegon community?
A: Our message is very simple and two-fold. We are currently in the process of renovating the
site and replacing the former mill with an economic development zone providing jobs for the
local Muskegon area not only in the short term which involves workers during the demolition
period of two years but also revitalizing the property for attraction of future business and jobs.
This is an excellent opportunity for both our company and future businesses coming on the site
to accomplish both these goals and we are very excited about that prospect.

22.  Muskegon's new Sappi paper mill site owner has plans
for a 'new industrial community'
Published: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 6:20 AM Updated: Monday, October 17, 2011, 10:48 AM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2011/10/muskegons_new_paper_mill_site.html
MUSKEGON — So much for grand ideas about a sprawling park. Or building condos and shops
along a boardwalk on the 119-acre former Sappi paper mill site that meanders alongside about a
mile of Muskegon Lake.
Even redeveloping the site for industrial use isn't a sure thing. The deed and purchase agreements
for the site that now belongs to a Nunica-based demolition company place major restrictions on
how the property can be used. And Muskegon City Attorney John Schrier said he believes those
restrictions hold true for anyone interested in purchasing the property in the future.
“The deed restrictions make it virtually impossible to develop or get bank financing for a sale as
it relates to the environmental issues,” Shrier told The Chronicle, after reviewing the documents.
None of that worries Doug Melching of Melching Inc. who paid $2.3 million for the property
and potentially could profit on the scrap value within the property's confines.
“Community leaders, public officials, lawyers and economic developers need to know that I
think outside the 'box,' " Melching said in an email to The Chronicle, in which he was asked
various questions.
Eye on industrial use
The vision is to create a “new industrial community” but the immediate task at hand will be to
demolish obsolete and unneeded buildings among the 1.1 million square feet of industrial
facilities.
If permits are secured, demolition could begin in November, Melching said, and it could take
two years.
The new owner of the site — a paper mill for more than 100 years until Sappi ceased operations
in 2009 — is confident there is a workable plan to move forward with industrial redevelopment.

23. “I have taken into account the risk associated with this project as I have always done and what I
have learned from similar past endeavors,” according to Melching, who has had years of
experience in taking down everything from the Muskegon Mall to industrial buildings on
polluted sites. “I will do what it takes to get the job done.”
The property was purchased solely by Melching Inc. on a cash basis with no mortgage involved.
And Melching will redevelop the site looking for financially sound partners to purchase or lease
portions of the site without bank financing, he said.
Challenges await
The Sappi property deed restrictions prohibit other uses beyond industrial including residential,
commercial, recreational and as park land, according to public documents. Those familiar with
Sappi Fine Paper and its South African ownership's sale of the property say the international
paper company structured the deal to protect itself from future environmental involvement and
liability.
Sappi spokeswoman Amy Olson said the former owners sought out a "responsible party" like
Melching in selling its Muskegon mill.
"In cases of brownfield development such as that at the Muskegon mill site, it is customary under
the circumstances to place limitations on land use to ensure that the property is deployed in the
most appropriate manner," Olson said.
Melching has a redevelopment team including Lakeshore Environmental Inc. of Grand Haven
and HarborPointe Realty of Nunica. Melching already has sought initial demolition permits from
the city for the property.
The local company is taking a completely different public posture than Sappi, which was
guarded in dealing with its mill facility. The new owner has scheduled a Friday morning “meet
and greet” for community leaders, public officials, economic developers and state legislators,
giving a group tour of the site.
Plenty of questions will be asked as Melching begins to engage the community.
“The city will work with Melching to assist the new owner with the vision of creating economic
development and job creation,” Muskegon Mayor Steve Warmington said. “However, based on
the opinion of the city attorney and a read of the deed restrictions it might be more difficult than
anyone would have hoped.”
But when it comes to the future of the Muskegon paper mill site, Warmington said the
community should be pleased that the property no longer owned by an out-of-town corporation.
Melching purchased the property Aug. 23.
“I'm glad we have local people involved who know and understand West Michigan,”
Warmington said.

24. Environmental questions
At the heart of the issues surrounding the Sappi site are the environmental legacy of so many
decades of paper making, especially those years before 1973 when the plant's wastewater began
to be sent to the Muskegon County treatment system.
The public documents involved in the property's sale includes a “disclosure of facility status” as
provided by Sappi under Michigan environmental law.
The disclosure lists the hazardous substances known to be present on the property to include:
“gasoline, diesel, fuel oil and other petroleum … PCBs … acids, sodium hydroxide, sodium,
sulfates, lead and arsenic.” An industrial development expert told The Chronicle that the list of
hazardous materials would be expected at a paper mill.
Melching said that an investigation of the land by his company and an environmental consultant
shows that it consists mostly of “non-hazardous inert soils, foundry sand, lime, coal and former
wood-based products.” The land is basically fill material from the lumber and industrial eras, he
said.
“Exhaustive investigation has been performed to assess the environmental conditions of the
site,” Melching wrote. “The information generated from these investigations has been evaluated
and no current known litigation issues exist. Our investigative work revealed that (Sappi) sought
to maintain a sound environmental approach.”
The environmental covenants on the property include Melching's assumption of “all
environmental liabilities.”
“The foregoing shall apply to any condition or noncompliance with environmental law, including
any condition past, present or future, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected,
contemplated or uncontemplated …,” according to the environmental covenants to the quit claim
deed signed by Melching.
Part of the covenants agreed to by Melching is an “indemnification” clause. Shrier said that legal
provision allows all environmental costs incurred by Sappi to be covered by Melching, even if
the company faces environmental regulator enforcement for past contamination.
The real estate sale documents restrict future development on the northside of Lakeshore Drive
for “industrial purposes.” The $2.3 million sale also included 10 properties on the southside of
Lakeshore Drive as the paper mill owned residential homes and land across the street from its
operations. These residential properties were sold without restrictions.
The public documents show that Melching also has agreed to certain restrictions on demolition
and excavation of the site. Those restrictions would hold for any future owner of the site,
according to the documents.

25. One small part of the property is restricted from demolition without the written approval of the
paper company. Another six small parcels on the paper mill property are restricted from
excavation below the surface without written approval of the paper company.
“All the former mill structures may be targeted for demolition if redevelopment uses for the
existing structures are not found or conducive for reuse,” Melching said in an email, adding that
demolition and environmental work will employ 50.
To that end, Melching has requested a demolition permit from the city of Muskegon. The
application dated Sept. 22 requests a “phased, partial demolition” with the first phase beginning
with the mill's caustic plant, digester building, bleach plant and removal of a specific machine.
Conflict with local law?
Warmington said that anyone doing demolition in the city must abide by a city ordinance
requiring all buildings being torn down to include removal and cleanup of underground
structures such as basements. The mayor wondered if the restrictive excavation covenants on the
property would allow Melching to meet city standards.
Although the paper mill property deed limits future redevelopment of the site to industrial uses,
there are plenty of parties interested in portions of the property, HarbourPointe Realty's Mike
Murphy said.
Melching said the paper mill site has an existing power house that could be recharged to produce
both electricity and steam, and a deep-port slip on Muskegon Lake for shipping activities. The
property is well-suited for wind, solar or bio-mass energy companies, the owner wrote.
The property is well-suited for logistics and warehousing operations, shipping and alternative
energy operations, according to Ed Garner, president of Muskegon Area First — the local
economic development agency.
“The types of uses that are being discussed for the property, I think, the public will not object
to,” Garner said, adding that whatever happens on the site will produce “hundreds not thousands”
of jobs. Sappi recently had 800 employees at a plant that had once employed 1,200.
Community leaders are interested in Melching's plans for the Sappi property because Lakeshore
Drive is one of two routes to Pere Marquette Park, the region's leading beach on Lake Michigan.
The plant also is on the edge of the city's Lakeside Neighborhood and its neighbors include Great
Lakes Marina, the Muskegon Country Club and Balcom's Cove condominiums.
To enhance the visual appeal of the property, community leaders are suggesting a “green buffer”
for the industrial site, while others are wondering if the city's Shoreline Trail can be taken off of
Lakeshore Drive and the bike path put on the paper mill land as is the case with other Muskegon
Lake properties, Garner said.

26. However, one of the deed covenants for the paper mill site states “access by the general public is
restricted or infrequent.”

27.  Muskegon community leaders to tour the former Sappi
paper mill property Friday
Published: Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 2:30 PM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2011/10/muskegon_community_leaders_to.html
MUSKEGON — There will be plenty of questions when community leaders and public officials
tour the former Sappi paper mill property on Muskegon Lake Friday morning.
A group of two dozen representatives from the city of Muskegon, Muskegon County, Muskegon
Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce and Muskegon Area First have been invited to the 119-acre
site that has nearly a mile of Muskegon Lake shoreline.
The industrial site was recently purchased for $2.3 million by Doug Melching of Melching Inc.
— a Nunica-based demolition and reclamation company. Melching has plans to create a “new
industrial center” on the property that had been a site of paper making for 109 years before the
South African paper company ended its Muskegon operations in 2009.
Community leaders and public officials have seen the deed restrictions that Sappi placed on the
property, which were agreed to by Melching. Those restrictions have been called uncommon and
some of the most restrictive seen on a local industrial property, according to Muskegon City
Attorney John Shrier.
The restrictions in the quit claim deed and associated covenants include:
• The property on the north side of Lakeshore Drive is limited to “industrial purposes” and
specifically excludes residential, recreation and park uses.
• One small parcel on the Sappi site has been restricted for demolition without prior approval of
Sappi Fine Paper.
• Six other separate, but small, portions of the site have been restricted for excavation below the
surface without prior approval of Sappi.
• Access to the site by the general public is “restricted or infrequent.”

28. • The new owner cannot apply for “brownfield” designation for the site, which would provide
tax-increment financing and potential governmental grants for environmental investigation and
cleanup.
• The new owner cannot prepare or submit a “baseline environmental assessment” — a basic
environmental study of past contamination and the property's current condition — to any
governmental agency.
• The new owner and any third party cannot conduct environmental testing, including sampling
of soils and groundwater.
• Environmental remediation and response activities required under environmental law by a
government agency shall be limited to achieving “the least stringent criteria applicable to the
property.”
• Any information regarding environmental liabilities of the property cannot be voluntarily
shared with government agencies unless required by law nor shared with third parties without
written permission of the paper company.
Many of the restrictions appear to be transferrable to subsequent owners beyond Melching. How
long deed restrictions remain on a property and with subsequent owners are complex legal
issues, economic developers say.
“The Friday tour will allow the group to meet first-hand with the new owners,” said Ed Garner,
president of Muskegon Area First — the local economic development agency. The tour was set
up through Melching's real estate agent — Mike Murphy of HarbourPointe Realty of Nunica —
Garner said.
“Mike knew that the community was very interested in the Sappi property, and he wanted to set
up a tour of the site through our agency,” Garner said. “We hope they can share what kinds of
proposals they have had for the site and a timetable for their activities.”
Melching purchased Sappi in August and has since made initial application to the city of
Muskegon for the first part of a phased demolition of the site.
Demolition could take two years, the new owner said. Melching has said demolition of obsolete
and unneeded buildings among the 1.1 million square feet of paper mill facilities could begin yet
this year with materials being recycled.
The plan is for industrial redevelopment of the site to create economic activity and jobs for the
community, he has said.
The Friday tour will include the area's state legislators and economic developers from the
Michigan Economic Development Corp., Garner said.

29.  Former Sappi paper mill being re-developed (w/video)
Submitted by WZZM13, News Staff
Friday, October 21st, 2011, 5:06pm
 http://muskegon.wzzm13.com/news/news/63111-former-sappi-paper-mill-being-re-
developed
Muskegon,MI (WZZM)- For the first time since it became the Sappi paper mill more than 100
years ago, our cameras were allowed inside the Muskegon plant.
The new owners of the former Muskegon paper mill are renovating the site for mixed industrial
use. The Sappi paper mill closed in 2009. Demolition has been going on at the 120-acre site ever
since. It was the owner of that demolition company, Doug Melching, that bought the land that
overlooks Muskegon Lake.
"It's in an area that is very beautiful and my intentions are to remove a lot of the stuff that isn't so
beautiful. But, at the same time, it will environmentally improve what it used to be."
The owner is looking at several options for the site, including aggregate storage, windmill
assembly, or bio-mass manufacturing for energy creation.

30.  Interest high in Muskegon's former paper mill property
as community leaders tour the site (w/photos & video
tour of Sappi)
Published: Monday, October 24, 2011, 5:51 AM Updated: Monday, October 24, 2011, 2:12 PM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2011/10/interest_high_in_muskegons_for.html
MUSKEGON — Community leaders touring of the former Sappi paper mill learned recently that
the vacant industrial facility's power plant might have a buyer.
An unnamed party has signed a “letter of intent” to purchase the 43-megawatt co-generation
plant that produces industrial-grade steam and electricity, said Mike Murphy, real estate agent
for new paper mill plant owner Doug Melching of Melching Inc., a Nunica-based demolition and
environmental cleanup company.
Sappi Fine Paper used coal and wood scraps to produce energy but the power plant has been
mothballed since industrial operations ended on the site in 2009.
If purchased, the new energy company would need about 25 power plant workers, Murphy said.
If the plant is not purchased, Melching will sell off the power equipment and bring it down, he
said.
Melching purchased the 119-acre site on Muskegon Lake in August for $2.3 million. Plans for
the site, with its nearly one mile of shoreline, is to demolish and recycle materials from obsolete
and unneeded buildings among the 1.1 million square feet of industrial space.
Plans are to subdivide the property for future industrial use to parties that would purchase, lease
or partner with the new owner.
Melching and his team of demolition, scrap, environmental and development experts from West
Michigan showed the property Friday to more than 75 public officials, economic developers and
interested business leaders. The new owners are opening up to the community as the former
South African corporation owners never did.
“I'm fully prepared to take this on and to do the right thing for this community,” Melching told
the community group. He said his goal is to create jobs and economic activity on a site that was
dedicated to papermaking for more than 100 years.

31. “I have a good team,” he told the group.
Besides the power plant, the Sappi site has a 250,000-square-foot warehouse building, a 45,000-
square foot office building that sits along Lakeshore Drive and a deep water port that the new
owner said he hopes to get permits to dredge to a depth of 26 feet. All are marketable assets,
Murphy said.
Murphy told the group of community leaders that since Melching purchased the property the
redevelopment team has been inundated with parties interested in the property. He said he is
working on developing four purchase agreements for various parts of the property.
The power plant was expanded and upgraded in 1988 and in many ways is state of art, Melching
said. He took a tour group to the top of the boiler building which has stunning views of
Muskegon Lake, the Muskegon Country Club, the Bluffton Bay marinas, Nugent Sand
operations, Harbour Towne and Lake Michigan on the western horizon.
“All you have to do is add power and this is ready to go,” Melching told a tour group from the
power house control room.
Deed restrictions on the property's future use, environmental testing and some excavation have
concerned some in the community wanting the property to become a regional asset.
“We believe the site is not as bad as some might believe,” Murphy said about the environmental
conditions.
Melching is working with environmental consultant Roman Wilson, president of Lakeshore
Environmental Inc. of Grand Haven. The two have teamed up in the past to tackle more difficult
industrial sites in the region, they said.
Also working for Melching is Ken Callow, the former Sappi production manager, who has
become the demolition company's project engineer.
“Sappi had been a pretty good citizen on environmental issues,” Callow said addressing the
company's continuing deed restrictions. “But now the phrase might be that going forward we are
not out looking for problems.”
Wilson said that he has been hired to make sure that environmental conditions on the site are
improved not worsened, and that state and federal environmental regulations are followed. He
said the Melching team has no indication that any environmental contaminants are leaching into
Muskegon Lake.
The community leaders — including city and county public officials and state legislators — said
they generally were encouraged by the Melching team presentation and tour of the site.

32. “It seems as if he is moving forward responsibly,” said state Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright, the
Democratic legislator for a district that includes the paper mill. “The focus is on local jobs. They
seem to be environmentally responsible. It's all seems to be good.”
Those who had never been in the Muskegon mill said they were impressed by its size. They saw
the 600-foot long vacant space on the shop floor where paper machine No. 5 once produced
coated paper for the publishing industry. The huge machine was dismantled and shipped to a
Mexican papermaker.
The group also saw part of the 80,000-square-foot warehouse that was built in 1998. The original
section of the plant dates back to 1899.
“There's a lot of square footage here,” said Kevin Donavon, president of Muskegon
Construction Co., who was on his first tour of the mill. “You could do anything in here. It is
staggering, the physical plant here.”
Melching has an asbestos removal crew working in the plant and his own crew stripping out
unneeded copper wire. There are about 15 people working in the building, but when demolition
begins on site that will increase to 100 jobs, company officials have said.
Melching said Padnos Iron and Metal of Holland, which has operations in Muskegon, is a partner
in the recycling work.
“I know Doug, he can handle this job,” said Muskegon County Commissioner Alan Jager, who
owns and operates a demolition company in Holton.
After Melching's presentation, Muskegon County Board Vice Chairman John Snider and
Muskegon Mayor Steve Warmington said the community must rally around the West Michigan
businessman.
“As a community, we need to support his efforts totally,” Snider said. “We need to get behind his
efforts in the short term. Hopefully, this site can add to the stream going out to our wastewater
system.”
Besides the lost jobs — a few hundred at the end but from 800-1,200 over the course of decades
— Sappi was the largest user of the Muskegon County Wastewater Management System and
accounted for half of the flow in the system at the height of the mill operations. The county is
looking to increase wastewater flow to keep rate increases down for the remaining users.
“I think we have to embrace this project as they have presented it, one opportunity at a time,”
Warmington said. “We have to do the best we can for the community and to generate jobs out
here.”

33.  Former Sappi paper mill workers recall the hard work,
long hours, good pay ... and the food
Published: Sunday, December 04, 2011, 6:03 AM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 http://www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2011/12/former_sappi_paper_mill_worker.html
MUSKEGON — Bring five former Sappi paper mill workers together and the conversation
eventually will drift to food.
The discussion usually focuses on how the meals were cooked in the various departments of the
hulking paper mill on Muskegon Lake that now faces demolition.
There are memories of old Mill Inn dinners brought into the manufacturing plant through a hole
in a fence from across Lakeshore Drive. Someone remembers breakfasts cooked by Jim Puckett
that he sold to plant employees every morning with the mill manager being a customer.
And then there were the stories about Curly Taylor, who was known for his “U.S. 31 stew.” If it
was found dead on the side of U.S. 31 as Taylor made his way to work, it ended up in the stew,
they said.
So what's all this food talk about as the five workers walk through the cavernous, 1 million
square-foot-plus facility at 2400 Lakeshore Drive that was home to thousands of paper makers
for 109 years?
The former Sappi workers said those employed at the paper mill were family. And it was a large
family with a peak employment in the 1970s of more than 1,200 workers.
The bonds forged by back-breaking industrial work and exhausting double-shifts established
lifelong relationships in the plant that evolved from Central Paper Co. to S.D. Warren Co. and,
finally, Sappi Fine Paper.
And when families gather, food — or the talk of it — is shared.
“We were cooking down here all of the time,” explained Lyle Robbins, who left the plant the last
day of operations in 2009 after 35 years of service. His father, Lyle Sr., and grandfather, Merlin
Wright, worked in the plant.

34. “If you came for a shift and your relief didn't show up, you had a 16-hour day,” Robbins said.
The mill operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. “You could live here for a
whole week … and some did,” he said.
Robbins was among five former Sappi mill workers who toured the plant late last month with
The Muskegon Chronicle.
Some workers had wanted to take a last look at their former workspace when the industrial
facility was still owned by Sappi — the South African paper company with North American
headquarters in Boston. Sappi officials in Boston denied the tour and any media access to the
mill property.
That all changed in August when Melching Inc. of Nunica purchased 119-acre site with nearly a
mile of Muskegon Lake waterfront for $2.3 million.
New owner Doug Melching of Fruitport welcomed the former mill workers back into the plant
before major demolition begins. The tour was conducted by former mill engineer Ken Callow,
who remained onsite with Sappi while the plant was for sale. Callow now continues with the
facility as Melching's project engineer.
The workers' tour was an emotional experience, beginning as they walked into the finishing
department devoid of not only workers but of all equipment. Much of the paper mill's machines
were sold in a Sappi auction in December 2010.
“This is so sad,” said Steve Belmarez as he walked into plant for the first time since he took a
2004 severance package during a major layoff. “This place bought a lot of homes and raised a lot
of families in this town.
“It's amazing,” he said while shooting pictures of the vacant industrial space on his cell phone.
The emotion of the workers walking through the sprawling plant goes to the nature of the work
and relationships in the mill over the decades, they said. They talked of family bonds.
“Here, people really took care of each other,” said Steve Keglovitz, who began working in the
plant in 1986 and left in 2005 on disability.
“If you were on swing shifts, you worked three weekends a month,” Keglovitz said. He was
president of the mill's union when it was PACE Local 1015. “You'd lose touch with friends
working like that. So when we hung out, we hung out with each other.”
The former mill employees joined company bowling leagues and had softball teams. Families
came together at company picnics, the men said. The guys gathered at the nearby Marine Tap
Room for a beer after shifts, be that at 7 p.m. or 7 a.m.

35. The workers fondly remembered the years prior to 1994 when the company was owned by Scott
Paper, when company management and union employees worked hand-in-hand in the
community as volunteers.
“Muskegon lost a lot of money when this plant went down,” Evans said. The loss was more than
wages and contracts for West Michigan industrial suppliers. “It lost a lot of people who gave and
served in the community.”
There were no typical work weeks at the Muskegon mill. There were three eight-hour shifts and
workers moved around in the work schedule. The system provided plenty of overtime with big
money offered to those who would work holidays, they said.
Callow explained that paper mills are such capital-intensive enterprises — paper machines cost
hundreds of millions of dollars and new mills having price tags over $1 billion — that the
machines could never shut down.
“Every down time was so expensive … that is time driven by economics,” Callow said. A
malfunction that could take three to eight hours to bring the paper machine back to production
could cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A lost hour of production on the huge Paper Machine No. 5 could cost the company $85,000,
workers said they were told.
A work week might be 44 hours, or it could be 48, 52 , 60 or more hours, they said.
“There was no such thing as a 40-hour week down here,” said Mark Evans, 53, who had worked
28 years in the mill as an operator until it closed.
Such a pace of work was hard on marriages and relationships. Keglovitz said spouses would
become suspicious of the odd hours and drive by the plant just to make sure their mates' cars
were in the parking lot, he said.
“People gave up a lot of stuff to work here,” Keglovitz said. Workers had the money for all of
the toys of life — boats, motorcycles, campers and northern cottages — but never enough time to
enjoy them.
“I remember driving back from our lake property up north, leaving when everyone was there
enjoying the SeaDoo and cooking out,” Keglovitz said. “I was going back home to go to bed so I
could get up and go to work.”
And the labor was physical and, most of the time, monotonous, the former workers said. The
coated, publishing-grade paper came off the machines and was put on huge rolls that workers
moved throughout the processing and shipping departments.

36. Mechanics and operators that worked within the electric- and steam-powered paper machines
worked at the risk of life and limb. And it could be hot, up to 130 degrees in the confined spaces
under the machine where work had to be performed, they said.
“That no one was killed on this machine over the years is amazing,” Keglovitz said looking at
the 600-foot long vacant space that once housed Paper Machine No. 5 — the pride of the
company, which produced paper from wet pulp to dry product in one continuous operation.
Sappi sold Paper Machine No. 5 to a company that dismantled it and trucked it piece-by-piece to
Mexico for assembly, Callow said. “I cried when I saw them haul out No. 5,” Keglovitz said.
Although no one was killed in the plant, there were injuries over the years, some of them serious.
Robbins is missing part of the middle finger on his left hand that was caught in a chain on one
shift in the plant, he said. And Keglovitz limped through the mill, hobbled by job-related back
and joint issues.
But they said they aren't looking for sympathy. They enjoyed the top industrial jobs in Muskegon
County when the plant was in operation.
“When I got a job at the mill, I felt like I hit the lottery,” said Keglovitz, who also had worked at
CWC Textron in a foundry and for Shaw-Walker Co. making office furniture.
The paper mill jobs were the most highly sought industrial jobs in Muskegon County. Pay was at
the top, benefits were generous and overtime provide financial resources that high-school
graduates could never have anticipated.
At a union bargaining session in recent years, union leaders found that the average wage at the
plant for its members was $58,000 and the average production worker put in 60 hours a week.
By 2005, Sappi told local officials that the average plant wage was $70,000 when engineering
and management positions were calculated.
As the tour progressed, Callow allowed the workers to linger in areas of the plant. They stopped
to look through the drawers in the water system testing and laboratory room, where several had
worked. Belmarez was able to sit down in his old desk chair for the last time.
But it was the vacant space left by the scrapping of Paper Machine No. 4 that stunned Evans.
“You're killing me, you're killing me,” Evans said as Callow told of the old machine's fate.
“I knew every screw on that machine,” Evans said staring into the void that was once No. 4. “I
must have turned everyone one of them at least once.”
As the former mill workers concluded their tour of the plant, demolition workers were stripping
miles and miles of electrical lines for recycling of the copper while others began dismantling the
tanks and out buildings.

37. The five former paper workers came to one conclusion: What ever Melching does with the mill
property, it should remain an industrial use.
“This needs to stay industrial,” Belmarez said. “We need those jobs.”

38.  Going to waste: Muskegon seeks industrial users for
wastewater facility
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
By Kym Reinstadler | MiBiz
 www.mibiz.com/news/agribiz/19122-going-to-waste-muskegon-seeks-industrial-users-
for-wastewater-facility.html
MUSKEGON — Jonathan Seyferth has returned home to Muskegon County to look for dirty
work. Lots of it.
Seyferth, 33, joined Muskegon Area First in October as business development manager. His
primary charge: increase flow to the county’s wastewater management system, where average
daily flow dipped to 28 percent of capacity in 2010.
Muskegon County commissioners hiked sewage treatment rates 45 cents per 1,000 gallons in
September. Attracting more industrial users would make the system more efficient and could
prevent future rate increases, said Ed Garner of Muskegon Area First.
Attracting new business users to the area is Muskegon Area First’s preferred way of increasing
flow through the system because that would also result in bringing in new jobs to the area,
Garner said.
As recently as 1996, the 11,000-acre ground filtration site straddling Moorland and Egelston
townships was operating at 75 percent of capacity. Since then, Muskegon County’s primary
wastewater producer, Sappi Paper, has ceased operations locally, leaving the facility woefully
under-used.
“There’s no silver bullet out there,” said Seyferth, whose family has been prominent in
Muskegon County’s business community for three generations. “There aren’t many businesses
that use as much water as a paper company.
“But,” Seyferth continued, “the cleaning process we use is really suitable and marketable to a lot
of different industries. A combination of different things will probably be the ticket, although it
will take time.”
The county may have to look farther afield if the facility is to achieve 100-percent utilization of
its capacity because so many commercial and industrial users have taken “green” steps to reduce
consumption and to reuse water, he said.
“The system really could go regional because its capacity is so large,” Garner said.
Because of the facility’s close proximity to U.S. 31 and M-46, Seyferth considers the facility
convenient to West Michigan food producers who may want to truck in wastewater.

39. The excess capacity could come in useful since some West Michigan communities are
approaching capacity of their water treatment plants. It might prove to be more cost-effective to
extend the lines to Muskegon or to truck or ship wastewater there than building new facilities in
the communities themselves, Garner said.
It is also possible that sewage could be transported for treatment by boat, because Muskegon is
the deepest water port along Lake Michigan’s Michigan shore, Garner said.
Coincidentally, the former Sappi site does have a dock on Muskegon Lake. Melching Inc., a
Nunica-based demolition company, now owns the 119-acre former mill site. The company has
hopes of redeveloping that site for industrial use, since residential and commercial development
is unlikely due to environmental issues related to the century-long paper mill operations at the
site. According to published reports, Melching plans to market the site for industrial uses.
About 70 percent of Muskegon County residences and businesses are already using the
wastewater system, which ranks among the most economical in the state, even after the rate hike
this fall. Some non-users are in rural areas too remote to make hooking up affordable.
Seyferth devoted his first two months on the job to studying the problem and developing
marketing strategies to lure additional users.
A committee of Muskegon County Wastewater Management System users will take December to
review and give input to the plan. Seyferth expects to present a synthesized marketing plan to
members of the Muskegon County commission in January.
Seyferth is reluctant to share specifics before his plan benefits from the internal vetting process,
but he disclosed that Muskegon Area First has already done a direct mailing touting the system
to food processing companies.
He’s also working with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Michigan State University
Product Center to explore what it would take to establish the site as an Agriculture Renaissance
Zone, which would allow new agribusinesses to operate there tax-free for a period of time.
The massive system, which began operations in 1973, is unique in its effectiveness at filtering
biological debris without diminishing the oxygen content, Seyferth said.
It includes aeration and settling basins, holding ponds and cropland. Gray water is used to
irrigate the corn, alfalfa and hay fields on the site during the growing season. The county sells
the crops as livestock feed to offset energy costs of the operation.
Cleansed water is returned to Muskegon Lake or Lake Michigan.
The West Michigan city of Hart uses a similar wastewater treatment process, but on a much
smaller scale, Seyferth said.

40.  Viewpoint: Industrial firms that pollute our community
should pay for the cleanup
Published: Friday, December 30, 2011, 6:05 AM
By The Muskegon Chronicle
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By Sean Mullally
 http://www.lakenews.com/News.asp?ID=F8F74F73-F546-47BA-BA46-
B7DB0EFAA764&SiteID=MI022
Muskegon’s history as an industrial powerhouse helped build this community and give economic
security to generations of local families, but it also left us with a toxic legacy of polluted soil and
lakes. During my years on the board of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, these toxic hot spots
were always a top concern. Fortunately, in recent years significant progress has been made in
remedying this pollution. As recently reported by The Muskegon Chronicle, an extensive
cleanup of contaminated sediment in Muskegon Lake’s Division Street outfall is reaching
completion. Our community has also benefited from the cleanup of other sites, Muskegon’s
Ruddiman Creek and the former tannery property on White Lake to name just two.
We can be proud of this progress, but the job is far from finished. Industrial contamination
remains a problem in other places like the former Zephyr Oil tank farm on M-120 in Muskegon
Township, which continues to seep toxic pollutants into Muskegon River and Bear Creek. The
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality worsened the situation several months ago by
deciding to shut off numerous recovery wells that had been preventing the pollution from
spreading. But there is good news. The two legislators representing Muskegon Township,
Democratic State Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright, and Republican State Sen. Goeff Hansen, have
found an area of bipartisan agreement and tentatively secured at least $6 million to start cleaning
up the Zephyr site.
Our legislators should be commended for their attention to the Zephyr contamination, but I
would also ask for their attention on another pollution problem nearby in Laketon Township. For
years, Bear Lake has been being fouled as petroleum has slowly but steadily dribbled up from an
abandoned well in nearby Fenner’s ditch. The contaminants have also seeped into nearby
residents’ well water. This has been a well-known and unaddressed problem for years. I would
ask our legislators to take a close look at the ongoing Fenner’s ditch leak and take action to
finally stop it.

41. Each of these contaminated sites has been an albatross around the neck of our community, and
each is well worth the effort it has taken, or will take, to clean them up. But it is not cheap. These
actions are costing taxpayers millions of dollars, while sometimes the polluters aren’t paying a
penny.
We’ve learned some lessons from these experiences. We now regulate our industries much better
to prevent the worst soil and water contamination before it happens. But one lesson we are still
struggling with is holding polluters accountable when pollution does occur. Too often we’ve let
them shove expensive cleanup cost on to taxpayers. We need stronger “polluter pays” laws to
recover cleanup costs from those responsible. Sometimes this is difficult. If decades have past,
companies may have disappeared and prior owners passed away.
Sometimes however it’s easier to find the responsible party. This brings me to recent sale of the
Sappi property on Muskegon Lake’s southern shoreline. The Sappi corporation sold its former
paper mill under some very unusual terms. Sappi placed several restrictive covenants into the
deed that legally prohibit the new owner (and presumably any future owners) from conducting
environmental testing of soil and water on the property, from sharing information they might
have about contamination with government agencies, and from engaging in, or allowing others to
engage in, cleanup efforts to remove contamination. Sappi’s motivation seems clear. If it can
create legal roadblocks to future cleanup efforts, that reduces the chance of someone eventually
chasing them down to pay for it.
Restrictive covenants have a shameful past. They were one of the legal instruments used to
enforce housing segregation. Restrictive covenants were placed on real estate deeds to prevent
new homeowners from reselling to people of certain ethnicities or religions. Our government
rightly struck down such restrictions as morally repugnant. I would suggest that Sappi’s deed
restrictions preventing environmental testing and cleanup are also repugnant and should be
struck down as well.
The new owner of the mill property is a local businessman who seems to have the experience
and intention to redevelop this property responsibly. Our laws and regulations should empower
him to do so, not legally shackle him to the last wishes of a prior owner whose only remaining
interest in this community is dodging environmental responsibility. Our elected representatives
should void Sappi’s deed restrictions, with new legislation if necessary, and immediately push
for a full environmental survey of the mill property.
We can’t know what pollution a century of paper making did or didn’t leave along this mile of
Muskegon Lake’s shoreline unless we look. But if contamination is found, it should be
thoroughly cleaned up today at Sappi’s expense, not decades into the future by taxpayers.
Sappi knowingly bought the environmental responsibility for this site when it bought S.D.
Warren. That was part of the deal, and the company shouldn’t be allowed to sweep it under the
rug now. The company has chosen to leave our community, but this is our home and we have a
right to insist the company leave it clean.
Sean Mullally lives in Laketon Township.

42.  Plans are developing for new Muskegon industrial park
on Muskegon Lake paper mill site
Published: Friday, January 13, 2012, 8:52 AM Updated: Friday, January 13, 2012, 10:39 AM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2012/01/plans_are_developing_for_new_m.html
MUSKEGON — A group of Lakeside Neighborhood residents got the first look this week at the
proposed Muskegon Lakeshore Industrial Park on the former paper mill property.
The industrial center with deep-port access to Lake Michigan would be a continuation of the
manufacturing history of the property that began with Central Paper Co. in 1899 through the $2.3
million sale of the site by Sappi Fine Paper in 2011.
New owner Melching Inc. of Nunica has hired Triangle Associates of Grand Rapids — a design
and construction company — to create a master plan for redevelopment of the 123-acre site with
nearly a mile of Muskegon Lake shoreline.
Triangle Chairman and CEO Craig Datema gave about 60 members of the Lakeside
Neighborhood Association a look at a preliminary site plan for the paper mill property. Melching
is currently reviewing its concepts with city officials in hopes of presenting a site plan to the
Muskegon Planning Commission in February, company and city officials said.
The initial conceptual plan for the critical waterfront property received mixed reviews from the
neighbors.
Some wanted to see a mixed-use commercial/residential development or removal of the huge
industrial complex and an environmentally cleaned site left vacant. Others applauded the
continued industrial use of the property in hopes of creating jobs that would replace the paper
mill employment, which had been more than 1,000 employees as recently as 30 years ago.
What Lakeside residents saw was a mixed use of industrial and port facilities with a majority of
the paper mill being removed and allowing for new uses. Melching and future users are restricted
by Sappi-required provisions in the deed keeping the site industrial, which is the current city
zoning on the land.

43. “This is a preliminary plan; This plan will change,” Datema said, not handing out a copy of the
site plan shown to the neighborhood group. But nonindustrial use of the property is not an option
at this time, he emphasized.
“After trying to sell condos next door at Balcom's Cove, I can tell you condos won't work … we
just can't do it,” said Datema, whose Triangle Construction Co. built the Balcom's Cove condo
towers just west of the paper mill site. A licensed architect, Datema said he owns one of the
condos in Balcom's Cove.
Starting on the west end of the property, which had been used for decades as the wood storage
lot for the paper mill, the Melching plan calls for construction rock and sand storage to be
shipped by road, rail and boat.
The initial plan shows deep-water docking along the entire shoreline of the property and two
specific freighter docks extending into the property. One dock is existing but would be enlarged
and another was historically on the property but filled over the years, Datema said.
Moving to the central portion of the property, the plan calls for the mill's power plant to be
retained and operated by a new owner. Next to the power plant, a portion of the mill would be
kept for bio-fuels operations that could be developed in conjunction with the power plant, which
the paper company used to produce both electricity and steam.
At the mid-point of the property along the waterfront, a chemical storage site is shown,
potentially for a liquid asphalt terminal. Next to the chemical storage facility would be a metal
recycling area with port access.
Toward Lakeshore Drive and on the east end of the current paper mill, a warehousing facility of
about 270,000 square feet would be preserved, the initial plan shows. That plan also shows the
old, three-story historic paper mill office building along Lakeshore Drive would remain.
On the far east end of the property, initial plans show the vacant area available for
manufacturing.
The property, which would be divided into various parcels and sold to separate owners, would be
tied together with a new road. The plan shows the road entering the property from Lakeshore
Drive at the paper mill's main entrance on the east and going down the middle of the property to
exit back to Lakeshore Drive on the west where the wood operations were located.
The property owner and the city would need to determine whether the road would be private or
public, Datema said. Taking the city's Lakeshore Trail pathway on to the property is not a good
mix with the industrial use, Datema said.
Datema said that Melching will limit access to the site to existing “curb cuts” from Lakeshore
Drive to limit traffic congestion. Residents told the new owner that traffic on Lakeshore Drive
and other roads through the Lakeside Neighborhood generated from the new industrial center is a
major concern.

44. The first look at the initial master plan for the property raised many questions and concerns from
neighbors.
“What you are talking about right here, I don't like,” one unidentified resident told the Melching
group.
Muskegon Mayor Steve Warmington was at the neighborhood meeting and cautioned residents
that nothing has been decided by city officials. He praised the new owner and Triangle for
reaching out to neighbors before completing a final plan for submission to city planners.
“We all are not going to agree with what is going to go on down there,” Warmington said of the
historic mill site. Warmington owns the Marine Tap Room in the Lakeside Business District, just
east of the mill site.
“This is not going to be a cakewalk for the owner to do all what he wants,” Warmington said of
company President Doug Melching. “I already have had disagreements with Doug over elements
in the plan.”
Datema told the neighborhood group that the eventual end users of the property will not include
Melching, who runs a demolition company that is on site beginning to remove portions of the
mill.
“We will minimize any impacts of the property,” Datema said. “Any new user has to be a good
neighbor.”
For some, being a good neighbor will mean “zero” noise, dust, pollution and additional traffic,
one resident told Datema and Melching.
Mark Evans, a former Sappi employee and member of the Muskegon Lake Watershed
Partnership, encouraged Triangle to expand the “buffer zones” along Muskegon Lake. Evans
said he wants the plan to give as much space to native plants, fish and wildlife as possible and
provide views of Muskegon Lake from Lakeshore Drive.
All of the Lakeside Neighborhood Association members were concerned about the
environmental condition of the property. Detama said there are concerns in some specific areas
and they will be left alone in the demolition and redevelopment, while Lakeshore Environmental
Inc. of Grand Haven continues testing on the site.
“This is not a Superfund site,” Datema said, referring to the federal designation for the nation's
worst environmentally-contaminated properties. “After 100 years of operations, you'd be amazed
at how little we are finding.”
While some residents were not happy with the initial plans for an industrial center, other
members of the Lakeside Neighborhood said the community needs the jobs that could be created
on the site. Datema estimated the property could generate $100 million in new investment in the
coming years.

45. “I look forward to you being my neighbor,” Lakeside resident Bill Schaefer told Melching,
adding that the neighborhood had been home to many of the paper mill workers and the residents
are accustomed to an industrial use of the lakefront. “Maybe we can get some jobs from this.”
Lakeside Neighborhood Association President Ellouise Hieftje said she was pleased that
Melching and his redevelopment team came to the neighbors first.
“People just want to know what is going on,” Hieftje said. “I think this is a great plan. This is
what we need.”
Datema reminded residents that Melching is restricted by the Sappi deed and that the land is
zoned for industrial use by the city. Muskegon's shoreline has historically been a port facility
with industrial use, he said.
The property continues to get great interest from a variety of investors and developers, Datema
said.
“None of the deals we have been talking to developers about are done,” Datema concluded. “We
are trying to come up with a plan that will make it all work together on this site.”
One resident told Datema: “Since you are in Balcom's Cove, we'd hope you'd put nothing on the
site that you didn't want to live next door to.”

46.  Down she comes: New Muskegon paper mill owner
wants to blast smokestack (w/video)
Published: Friday, January 13, 2012, 11:35 AM Updated: Friday, January 13, 2012, 11:50 AM
By Dave Alexander | dalexan1@mlive.com
 www.mlive.com/business/west-
michigan/index.ssf/2012/01/down_she_comes_new_muskegon_pa.html
MUSKEGON — For those who think progress in demolishing the former Sappi paper mill on
Muskegon Lake has been slow, have patience.
In a matter of weeks, property owner Doug Melching has plans for an event that will leave no
one wondering if the industrial plant is coming down.
The property's largest smokestack — an industrial icon for Muskegon — will come down in the
matter of seconds. Melching Inc., the demolition company from Nunica, has hired a world expert
demolition explosives company to bring down the nearly 300-foot stack.
No doubt the work of Advanced Explosive Demolition from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, will bring
about a huge interest from all over West Michigan. The company's plans will first get a review
from the Muskegon City Commission.
Muskegon City Manager Bryon Mazade said city officials have begun discussions with
Melching and his explosives contractor about razing the stack — a masonry structure that is 30
feet in diameter at its base, Melching said.
The plan is to explode the base of the paper mill stack in such a way as to have it tumble north to
the ground toward Muskegon Lake, Melching said. The stack is close to Lakeshore Drive, which
is to the south.
“We handle everything with extreme caution no matter what size the building,” AED President
Lisa Kelly said in a YouTube.com video of a demolition of a stack, which her company brought
down.
“Smokestacks are an easy structure to shoot,” Kelly said. “Silos can be tricky because they squat
but smokestacks most always fall.”
Melching said he hopes to have AED bring the Sappi stack down in the coming weeks. He first
needs “written approval” of the city of Muskegon.

47. The city's ordinance prohibits explosive demolitions unless there is written approval of the city,
Mazade said. When receiving Melching's request for the stack demolition, Mazade said he will
confer with city police, fire, public works and inspections officials.
Then a staff recommendation will go to the Muskegon City Commission for final approval,
Mazade said. The city manager said the process might take a while since issues such as the likely
closure of Lakeshore Drive for the blast need to be considered.
Melching said that AED is one of the foremost explosive demolition companies in the world.
Eric Kelly blasted his first smokestack at the age of 14 with his father. He took over AED in
1980 after being chief blaster for the company.
AED under Kelly's ownership has pursued the “highest and most hazardous” demolitions,
according to the company website. The company is the holder of several world record blasts.
It takes down everything from smokestacks and grain silos to hospitals, casinos and horse
racetracks. The company website shows it has successfully brought down stacks the size of the
one on the Sappi site, including a 715-foot stack in Kellogg, Idaho.
Melching is continuing what might be a two-year process of bringing down and recycling 75
percent of more than the 1 million square feet of industrial facilities. Work has begun on the back
side of the building, so little has been seen by the public driving by on Lakeshore Drive,
company officials said.
The site will be redeveloped as a waterfront industrial park with deep-port access. The
Muskegon Planning Commission is expected to review a master plan for the site in February.

48.  AED Trips Sappi Bleach Building (video)
Uploaded by thedabbler1 on Jan 17, 2012
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOMgbiW4gK4&feature=fvst
 Sappi smokestack may be demolished (w/video)
Submitted by Amy Fox, WZZM Executive Producer
Monday, January 23rd, 2012, 2:17pm
 muskegon.wzzm13.com/news/news/65909-sappi-smokestack-may-be-demolished
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM) - The new owners of Muskegon's old Sappi Paper Mill want to
demolish the mill's smokestack.
Melching, Inc., based in Nunica, bought the closed paper mill in 2011. The mill closed in 2009.
Melching is asking Muskegon city commissioners for permission to demolish the smokestack.
The commissioners will consider a "use of explosives" permit at a Tuesday night meeting.
If the permit is granted, the company plans to move forward quickly with plans to demolish the
stack.
The smokestack is 280 feet tall.
The 120 acre site on Lake Michigan is being renovated for mixed industrial use.

49.  Muskegon City Commission asked to give permission to
blow up Sappi stack
Published: Monday, January 23, 2012, 8:55 AM Updated: Monday, January 23, 2012, 2:58 PM
By Dave Alexander | dalexan1@mlive.com
 www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2012/01/muskegon_city_commission_asked.
html
MUSKEGON — The new owners of the Muskegon paper mill have asked the city of Muskegon
for permission to use explosives to bring down a 280-foot smokestack and a bleach plant
building on the mill property.
The city's demolition ordinance prohibits buildings and structures to be brought down with
explosives unless such plans receive written permission of the city. City Manager Bryon Mazade
will go to the Muskegon City Commission Tuesday to receive the authority to grant Melching
Inc. permission after a demolition plan is reviewed by city departments.
Melching told The Chronicle this month that his company has hired Advanced Explosives
Demolition from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to bring down the largest stack on the Muskegon
waterfront property. Melching has purchased the former Sappi Fine Paper mill property to
demolish a large portion of the huge facility and redevelop the property as an industrial center
with deep-water port access to the Great Lakes.
Melching said that the stack, which is 30 feet in diameter at its base, would fall toward
Muskegon Lake to the north. However, the stack is relatively close to Lakeshore Drive on the
south.
Melching indicated that he wanted AED to bring the stack down within the next few weeks.
Mazade said he didn't know how long it would take for a demolition plan to be approved. The
city's police, fire, public works and inspections departments would have to review and approve
the use of the explosives, the city manager had said.
According to Melching and the company's website, AED is an internationally-known demolition
explosives company which has taken down dozens of similar stacks.
City commissioners will hear about the Sappi demolition project at their Tuesday meeting.
Commissioners will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the commission chambers of Muskegon City Hall, 933
Terrace. The meeting is open to the public, and citizens can address commissioners on any topic.

50. Also on the busy commission agenda Tuesday is a payment in lieu of taxes request from the new
owners of the Bayview Tower low-income, senior citizens complex. The request is to extend the
tax break and payment for city services for another 40 years, which will take an amendment to
city ordinances.
Commissioners also will consider a resolution of support for the North Bank Trail acquisition
funding plan. Crockery Township has asked for support for its Michigan Natural Resources Trust
Fund grant application that would turn an old railroad bed into a bike path.
Tuesday's commission agenda also includes a change in precinct boundaries for the city's 14
polling places, due to changes found in the 2010 U.S. Census. Such changes also would alter the
layout of the city commission's wards in future elections.
Finally, the city commission will consider refinancing bonds from its Local Development
Finance Authority that had been sold to support construction of the Grand Valley State
University Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center on Muskegon Lake. More
favorable bond rates are now available, providing the city a potential savings in bond payments,
city officials indicate.

51.  Muskegon City Council Meeting (1/24/12) (video)
 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19985048
 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19985048/highlight/235586
 Melching and explosives company want to bring down
Sappi stack Sunday morning
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 7:59 PM Updated: Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 10:32 AM
By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
 www.lakenews.com/News.asp?ID=145B61B9-4691-4F12-BD14-
F1545C0FA6CF&SiteID=MI022
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.

52. 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.