Next Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee will hold an informational hearing about the possibilities of turning a Superfund site into something else entirely. This after the committee hears overviews and update on other metro area landfill issues (agenda here).
The remote hearing will be streamed las Live Video HTV 2 at the time.
On Tuesday, Zoe Jackson reported for the Star Tribune in St. Paul City Council asks state to help clean up Pig's Eye Lake:
St. Paul Audubon Society Treasurer Kiki Sonnen has visited Pig's Eye Regional Park since the 1970s. The park is part of a major North America flyway for heron, who nest there and travel up to 30 miles around the region to feed before returning to Pig's Eye.
"Great blue herons, great egrets, black-crowned night herons, double-crested cormorants. They nest together on an island called Pig's Eye Island Number 2," Sonnen said, who is passionate about birds and wildlife.
But over the years, the number of heron nests have declined sharply, from 1,200 to 500, said Sonnen. One cause could be the high level of pollutants, including PFAS, that have been found in eggs at the Heron Rookery island at the park, according to a St. Paul staff report.
The St. Paul City Council is asking the state for funds from President Joe Biden's federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the state's $7 billion state budget surplus to help clean up years of pollution near the underutilized lake. The amount of funding needed was not specified.
The area near the lake, wetlands and flood plain were used as a landfill from 1920 to the early 1970s. The state designated the Pig's Eye landfill and fish hatchery dump site as a Minnesota state Superfund site in 1989.
Serious pollutants threaten all downstream communities that rely on the Mississippi River for their water supply, Council Member Jane Prince said in an e-mail.
"With the climate disruptions that have become more common, there is an increased likelihood that flooding of Pig's Eye threatens the Mississippi River," Prince said.
Council Members Prince and Nelsie Yang will introduce a resolution on the issue Wednesday, and Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-St. Paul, will hold an Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy hearing on the matter Jan. 18. . . .
Read the City of St. Paul Resolution Pigs Eye at the link.
We were taken reading the written testimony supporting the clean-up, mostly from ordinary citizens who want to see the cleanup and the improvement of the park.
Written Testimony Pigs Eye Lake Park clean up uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd:
This project seems a win for everyone. Worth watching.
Photo: Pig's Eye Lake.
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