SCA Tissue, McMahon try prairie plantings to filter runoff

Two Town of Menasha business neighbors — SCA Tissue and McMahon Group — have joined forces with the town in an environmental demonstration project that will use perennial native plants to absorb water runoff along the portion of the state’s Friendship Trail that runs through their adjoining properties on McMahon Drive.

“We hope to provide a model for the use of native plants to capture water runoff from impervious surfaces and minimize the need for fossil fuel consumption,” says Michael Dillon, SCA Tissue Manager, Environmental and Risk Management. SCA Tissue North America has its Service Excellence Center offices at 1451 McMahon Dr. in the Town of Menasha.

Dillon also hopes the project’s results will serve as a learning tool and model for multiple audiences, including trail users, his municipal colleagues and eventually other area and state municipalities. Dillon, who serves as president of the Town of Menasha Parks & Recreation Commission and the town’s Sustainability Committee, approached town officials with the project idea.

“After reviewing the plan, the Town of Menasha officials, specifically Arden Tews, Jeff Sturgell, and Mike Kading, gave us approval and support to proceed with the project,” said Dillon. “We are thankful that the town has been open to exploring these alternative environmental management ideas.”

Dillon then approached McMahon Group to gauge the company’s interest in the project. McMahon Group is an affiliation of engineering, architecture, design/build and operations firms that has its headquarters at 1445 McMahon Dr., next door to SCA Tissue. Stuart Boerst, Senior Ecologist at McMahon Group, immediately became an advocate and a technical resource for the prairie-planting project.

“This project is an opportunity for us to lead by example on how to enhance the ecological value of the land in a sustainable way as well as beautify it,” said Boerst. “Not only do prairie restoration projects like this filter pollutants, improve water quality, stabilize the soil and reduce erosion, they provide food and shelter for song birds, butterflies and mammals.”

The three-year demonstration project will plant native prairie grasses and wildflowers along the north side of Friendship Trail, which runs through both company’s properties just south of U.S. 10. The Friendship Trail, a state-owned multi-use recreational trail that is maintained by the Town of Menasha, hooks up with the Trestle Trail and will eventually run from Stevens Point to Manitowoc.

Instead of flowing into the drainage ditch that runs between the trail and 10, runoff from the section of trail that passes through the adjoining properties of SCA Tissue and McMahon will be absorbed by the plants into the soil, where it will be filtered naturally and recharge the groundwater. The project area is a strip that runs north of the trail to the drainage ditch, stretching 700 feet in length and varying in width from about 10 to 40 feet.

Work already is under way on the three-phase project. The ground is being prepared for the native plants by removing the existing vegetation, most of which consists of weeds and invasive species.

“We are using different methods to prepare the ground and will evaluate and share the results to identify the best approach,” Dillon said. Those methods include spraying with herbicides, mowing and then vacuuming up the weed seeds and cuttings before spraying, and tilling under the vegetation followed by spot spraying.

This fall, seeds will be planted, utilizing a proprietary mix developed by McMahon. The mix includes approximately 50 different perennial wild flowers and grasses native to Wisconsin, including purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, butterfly milkweed and prairie blazing stars.

Next year, the project plan calls for minimum growth from the perennials and spot spraying for weeds to give the prairie plants room to grow.

In year three, the majority of plants will be producing flowers throughout the season. Little maintenance will be required from that point forward.

The native prairie wild flowers and grasses in McMahon’s seed mix have very deep roots that serve as a conduit for infiltrating water back into the soil. “Most of these plants have roots that go down five to 15 feet, compared to the very shallow roots of lawn grass and some weeds,” Boerst said. “The roots allow water to infiltrate deep into the soil for filtering and prevent the kind of quick saturation that leads to runoff into the drainage ditch and eventually into lakes and rivers, bringing fertilizer and associated problems with it. For instance, phosphorus in fertilizer produces nuisance algae blooms and lower water quality.”

The natural filtration offered by restoring native prairie habitat is environmentally preferable to channeling storm-water runoff to ditches and detention ponds where the sediment will later require removal and ultimately land filling.

The natural approach also has economic benefits over installing grass that requires mowing, fertilizing and other care.

“The entire project will cost less than $2,000, including educational signage at the sheltered picnic table along the trail,” Dillon said. “We expect that just eliminating the costs involved in mowing will quickly repay the initial investment.

“Man-made disruptions of eco-systems can often be best corrected by bringing nature back into the equation. We think this demonstration project will show the environmental and economic benefits of taking the natural approach to storm-water runoff management.”

This is not the first environmental demonstration project for either McMahon Group or SCA Tissue. Both companies have made environmental sustainability and leadership a cornerstone of their businesses.

McMahon Group has led the design and long-term management of many prairie and wetland restoration projects throughout the state in both the public and private sectors. McMahon Group is also a recognized leader in storm-water management and water resources throughout the state.

SCA Tissue added 115 solar panels to its Service Excellence Center in February, with the intent on sharing the lessons learned in alternative energy with other mills and offices. In less than half a year, those solar panels already have produced 14-megawatt hours of electricity, enough to power 10 family homes for one year, and eliminated 12 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

In addition, both McMahon Group and SCA Tissue are active members on the U.S. Green Building Council.

SCA Tissue is currently pursing LEED-EB certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its Service Excellence Center. LEED-EB, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings, is a voluntary program that certifies that buildings are designed and operated in such a way as to minimize their environmental footprints.