La Crosse may try to get head start on marsh clean-up project

City leaders in La Crosse have committed to spending another $200,000 toward cleaning up lead in the La Crosse River marsh.

But why wait until a consultant is hired?

Monday, the city’s Board of Public Works passed an amendment calling for some preliminary study before an outside expert is brought in.

Jim Flottmeyer from the La Crosse Parks, Rec. and Forestry Department said the early work could help meet requirements from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“We’d be needing to do it anyway, but it may help us better identify some of the things we need to do during the remediation,” Flottmeyer said.

Broken clay targets and lead shotgun pellets have been in the marsh for years, because of trap shooting at Myrick Park.

La Crosse’s interim Director of Engineering & Public Works, Matt Gallager said starting the inspection soon could help narrow the scope of the project and save money.