Posted on March 4, 2019
Heavy equipment is now hard at work at a small but important pond in Minneapolis.
The pond sits just southwest of Bde Maka Ska and filters water before it reaches the lake.
It is one of three ponds that keep the lake clean by separating as much trash, dirt, salt and other debris as possible from water that flows off local streets during rainfalls and when snow melts.
And it is now being dredged, which has led to a surprising find when it comes to trash.
“Unfortunately, we were pulling out a lot of pet waste baggies,” said Janna Jonely of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. “That’s the largest component of the garbage.”
The 3/4-acre, 8-feet deep pond needs to be dredged every few years to make sure it keeps functioning.
“When the pond accumulates more than 50 percent of a volume of sediments, we do a maintenance drudging like this,” Jonely said.
In 2012, Jonely said they discovered the sediment in the pond was contaminated – a condition attributed to coal tar driveway sealants.
“There was a ban passed in 2014,” she said. “And when we came to testing the sediment again prior to dredging, (we found) that the sediment (was) not contaminated.
“So we’re seeing a reflection in the ban.”
The dredging should be done in a day or two – weather depending. Then crews will grade the pond.
This spring, they will begin the process of replanting and fixing the soil.
Source: kstp.com
