Posted on July 31, 2017
By David L. Brommerich, Winona Daily News
Buffalo County might join with Wabasha County and other units of local government upset with a proposed Army Corps of Engineers long-range plan for depositing dredged sand on properties bordering the Mississippi River along Lower Pool 4 in the Alma, Nelson and Cochrane areas.
A draft plan introduced publicly by the Corps of Engineers in May identified private property sites on both the Minnesota and Wisconsin sides of the river where they proposed depositing more than 10 million cubic yards of dredged river sand over the next 40 years.
The plan has met stiff opposition from landowners and residents from throughout the Wabasha, Nelson and Alma areas opposed to taking prime agricultural land for permanent sand piling and increasing truck traffic to haul the sand on residential roads and streets.
A proposal coming before the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors in August calls for hiring legal counsel to advise the county on what it can do to stop or alter draft plans now under review by the Army Corps.
A public comment period on the draft plan was extended a 3rd time by the Corps last week, now set to expire on July 28. The original cutoff date was June 9.
A Buffalo County committee last week authorized its land conservation and resource management department to do environmental testing of dredge spoils taken from Pool 4.
County finance supervisors said they would hold off on testing for now, but wanted to have the land conservation department ready to take test samples if advised to proceed.
Dredged material tests produced by the Corps and cited in their draft plan were old, all of them dating back to the 1980s, finance supervisors said.
Carrie Olson, county land conservationist, said the department was prepared to take an estimated 6 samples of dredged material to have tested for presence of contaminants.
The Corps said it extended its deadline for taking public comments on the draft plan to give the public more time to “understand the document and provide alternative suggestions.”
The Corps said it would work with federal, state and “local partners” to explore opportunities to reduce costs of maintaining the river channel and minimizing impacts to communities.
Source: Winona Daily News
