PPCC Meeting 4/20 View Presentations

April 20 PPCC Meeting 7pm Zoom

Watch the presentations here.

Guests with presentations include:

PP Technical Advisors Gary Glass & Willis Mattison will be presenting information on lake impacts, water quality, history & regulations re. discharging into Lake Superior; contaminants & hazards from in water, beach placement of harbor dredge spoils; Brad Gausman, Executive Director, MN Conservation Federation will share perspectives of the Coalition

Coalition’s Organizations and Individuals:
The Minnesota Conservation Federation, Brad Gausman, Executive Director
The Save Lake Superior Association, Lori Andresen, President
Clean Water Action, Deanna White Minnesota State Director;
The National Wildlife Federation, Great Lakes Office, Jason Dinsmore, Director
of Conservation Partnerships;
The North Shore Surfrider Foundation, Bob Pokorney, President
Grant Merritt, Former Executive Director, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Willis Mattison, Former Regional Director, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Q & A and community discussion to follow. See you there! All are welcome to attend!

Information & letters, links to research, studies, articles etc.- fyi

Letter to the City April 6, 2021 Re. Beach Nourishment Recommendations

Director Filby- Williams, 
Park Pointers take great pride in providing active and vigilant stewardship of Lake Superior and its shores; we look to community leaders to join us in these efforts.

The Club’s Erosion and High Water Committee sought guidance and support from City leadership in 2019 to address the erosion of the very busy beach from south of the shipping canal to 13th St. The City’s effective collaboration and planning with the USACE led to the completion of the 2020 beach restoration project. 

Flooding, closing of Lake Ave & the bridge and “shelter in place” orders during storm surges will (hopefully) be temporarily & partially managed because of the dredge spoils placed on the beach. Water levels and storm surge durations are variables to watch. 
The dredge spoils from the harbor were advertised to Park Pointers as being a clean, safe and healthy temporary solution. We believed this to be true. 
After taking a much closer look and digging into the history and the science, serious concerns have arisen. 

I read in the DNT that Duluth (per Mayor Larson)  would be seeking to become the “greenest city in the country.” Placing dredged materials from the harbor into on-land containment sites for treatment and reuse is an appropriate course of action in a “green city.
Using clean, zero-polluting materials and/or materials from Lake Superior are appropriate solutions for the restoration of shorelines and beaches of Lake Superior in a “green city.”

After the shredded cans and shards were identified as coming along with the spoils during the USACE’s project and conducting additional research (based on the January 12th presentations set up by the PP EHWC), the Club made this recommendation, below.
We changed the Club’s recommendations to provide clear guidance on the Club’s need to protect Lake Superior. 
We hoped that City leadership would agree with this position and seek alternate short term solutions as we requested in recent communications. 

Regarding the proposed USACE’s 2021 beach nourishment project,  Park Point Community Club clarified the language in their recommendations:

Dredged materials considered for continued beach nourishment will undergo detailed analysis for suitability before they are placed on the beach. The USACE’s sediment sampling plan must demonstrate state water quality standards for Lake Superior will not be exceeded. During the application of new beach materials in 2021, the City of Duluth and PPCC will request MPCA require constant monitoring of the lake and discharged materials for the presence of any harmful components. If harmful components are found in the discharge, the USACE will take steps to remove or treat them.

The Club is asking the City to accept nothing less from the USACE than full compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act, MPCA statutes, and state water quality standards for Lake Superior- just as these laws apply to any other discharger.

• We are wondering how the USACE will be demonstrating that their methods will meet this recommendation?

• How will the data which verifies that this recommendation is followed be shared with the City and the community?

Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of the Club’s recommendations, requests and questions.
Kind regards & take care,

Dawn Buck,President

Resources, continued:

“It’s easy to spot bias in other people, especially those with whom we disagree.  But it’s not so easy to recognize our own biases.  Psychologist Emily Pronin says it’s partly because of our brain architecture. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore what Pronin calls the introspection illusion.” The Double Standard on Hidden Brain,NPR

North Star Port Winter 2021,”Federal Funds Flow to assist Great Lakes Shipping” , pages 6 & 7

Settling Sediment Issues in the Great Lakes
https://www.smithgroup.com/perspectives/2019/settling-sediment-issues-in-the-great-lakes

The Lakewide Action and Management Plan (LAMP) Annual Reports 2019

First ever PFAS fish consumption advisory issued for Lake Superior smelt-DNT, John Myers

Contaminants and Minnesota Fish

Lake Superior contaminants face year of scrutiny, DNT Brady Slater

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency considers lifting some water standards, DNT, Jimmy Lovrien

Public Meeting on Beach Clean Up & Beach Nourishment 2021

The City of Duluth, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other partners will host a public meeting to provide information and answer questions about two upcoming projects: the survey and cleanup of can debris from the 2020 beach nourishment project, and the new project slated to happen later this year. At the completion of the presentations, we will open it up to questions and answers from the community.

The meeting took place on April 14 form 11:30 a.m. – 1:00p.m.

Link to the meeting on fb

Kate Van Daele, Public Information Officer, City of Duluth – Mayor’s Office,218-730-5309, kvandaele@duluthmn.gov