Corps to hold two public meetings on its dredged material management plan, extend comment period

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is holding two public meetings on its draft Environmental Assessment for its Lower Pool 4 dredged material management plan and is extending the public comment period.  

The Corps is holding a public meeting, in cooperation with the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors, June 6, at the Nelson Community Building, S105 N. Main St., Nelson, Wisconsin. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.  

The Corps will also hold a meeting June 15, at the Wabasha-Kellogg High School, 2113 Hiawatha Drive E., Wabasha, Minnesota. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

The focus of the meetings will be on the Corps’ draft plan and its requirement to remove and permanently place more than 10 million cubic yards of dredged material from the Mississippi River Lower Pool 4 during the next 40 years. Corps staff will be available to answer questions following a brief presentation. 

In recognition of the public’s interest on this draft plan, the Corps will now accept comments thru June 23. The previous comment period expired June 9. Questions and comments concerning the project should be directed to Bob Edstrom, Corps project manager, at Robert.K.Edstrom@usace.army.mil. Please address all correspondence on this project to the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attention: Project Management, 180 5^th St. E., Suite 700, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-1678.  

This project requires a review of environmental effects under the National Environmental Policy Act. A copy of the draft EA with a finding of no significant impact is being coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state resource agencies as a part of this public review process. A final determination on the draft EA will be made following the public review period. The draft EA can be viewed and downloaded from the St. Paul District website at: www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/PublicNotices.aspx.  

The nearly 600 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the St. Paul District Fiscal Year 2016 $78 million budget, nearly 1,250 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $120 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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