ST. LOUIS RIVER AREA OF CONCERN UPDATES: BUI Removal - Comment Period Open
Public Invited To Comment On Proposal To Remove Impairment In St. Louis River Area of Concern
Public Meeting April 14 At Lake Superior Reserve, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are seeking public comments on their recommendation to remove the Degraded Fish and Wildlife Populations Beneficial Use Impairment from the St. Louis River Area of Concern.
The St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) was one of 43 sites in the Great Lakes region listed by the U.S. and Canada in 1987, because significant environmental degradation occurred at those locations before environmental regulations were adopted. Degraded fish and wildlife populations was one of nine environmental problems, called Beneficial Use Impairments, identified in the St. Louis River AOC.
All six management actions required to remove the impairment designation have been completed. Projects included habitat restoration projects to restore Piping Plover habitat at Wisconsin Point and Common Tern habitat at Interstate Island, as well as surveys and studies to show the estuary’s restored capacity to support healthy fish and wildlife populations.
Public Meeting on April 14 and Comment Period Open Through April 26
A public open house hosted by AOC partners will be held Thursday, April 14, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Superior Reserve Estuarium located at 3 Marina Drive, Superior, Wisconsin. A presentation about the impairment proposed for removal will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Public comments on the impairment removal proposal will be accepted through April 26. The impairment removal documents and comment submittal information is available online at the St. Louis River Restoration Initiative website.
Copies of the impairment removal documents are also available to review in-person at:
Duluth Public Library, 520 W. Superior St., Duluth, Minnesota
Fond du Lac Resource Management Division Office, 28 University Rd., Cloquet, Minnesota
Superior Public Library, 1530 Tower Ave., Superior, Wisconsin
Three of the nine impairments have been removed so far for this AOC. After all the remaining impairments are removed, the St. Louis River can be removed from the list of most polluted sites on the Great Lakes. AOC program partners anticipate removing the remaining impairments and delisting the St. Louis River as an AOC by 2030.
