Public Notice Manager

Dredged Material Placement in Support of Aquatic Habitat Restoration, 21st Avenue West, 40th Avenue West and Grassy Point, St. Louis River Area of Concern, Duluth, Minnesota

Published March 15, 2015

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Detroit District, has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) addressing the provision of suitable dredged material from Duluth-Superior Harbor to the State of Minnesota as a base for State-proposed aquatic habitat improvements. The proposed action involves placing suitable material dredged from the federal navigation project into the three aquatic habitat restoration sites in Duluth, Minnesota.  After the dredged material is placed into each site, the State of Minnesota will manage the site towards implementing their habitat restoration project.  The State’s habitat restoration project is a separate action under the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for the St. Louis River Area of Concern (SLRAOC) with the goal of contributing towards removing beneficial use impairments (BUIs), specifically “Degradation of Benthos” (BUI #4) and Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat” (BUI #9), from the SLRAOC.  This USACE in-water dredged material placement would be conducted under our Operations and Maintenance authority for the harbor.  An Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared by USACE for all three sites and distributed for agency and public review in February 2015.