ST. PAUL, Minn. –The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, will host a virtual public meeting Wed., Nov. 4, from 1-2 p.m., to introduce an island-building project the agency is proposing for the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minnesota.
The event will be streamed live from the district’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/usace.saintpaul. The format will include a 15- to 20-minute presentation followed by up to 30 minutes of questions and answers via Facebook chat.
More information about the plan.
The plan includes constructing a protective island near the Lock and Dam 2 upstream embankment to prevent erosion. The island would reduce wind fetch and ice action during both low and high-water conditions. The island would be armored with rock to minimize erosion and protect the embankment that separates the Mississippi River and Lake Rebecca.
In addition to minimizing erosion concerns, the island would include environmental benefits such as providing an emergent wetland area, a fish overwintering area and varying elevations that would sustain different vegetation types. Varying vegetation types would result in different terrestrial habitat, allowing for a greater variety of native species. The island would be constructed using river dredged materials, i.e. sand, collected near Hastings.
A public notice, draft EA and appendices describing the project and the environmental impacts in detail is available to the public and can be viewed and downloaded from the St. Paul District website at: www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/PublicNotices.aspx.
Questions on the project or comments on the EA can be directed to Trevor Cyphers, project biologist, at
651-290-5031 or Trevor.W.Cyphers@usace.army.mil. Please address all formal written correspondence on this project to the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 180 5th St. E., Suite 700, St. Paul, MN 55101. The public comment period ends Nov. 13, 2020.
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