Update: 
St. Paul activists question $16 million project to put islands in Pig’s Eye Lake
By Tad Vezner | [email protected] | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: August 4, 2019 at 5:21 am | UPDATED: August 4, 2019 at 12:20 pm
Some East Side St. Paul community activists are concerned about a multimillion-dollar plan to build islands in the center of St. Paul’s largest lake — questioning the need and effect, and alleging a lack of public process.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced weeks ago that they will be building seven islands in the 638-acre Pig’s Eye Lake, in the city’s Battle Creek neighborhood, using $11.5 million of their money and another $4.2 million from funding set up by the state’s Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment.
They say the lake is in bad shape because of eroding shoreline, carp tearing at its bottom, and extra sediment from Battle Creek, which empties into it.
The sheer length of open water, they add, allows for bigger waves that erode the shore even more — and building the islands will hinder that, along with creating shelter for waterfowl.
Former city council member Tom Dimond and former state Rep. Sheldon Johnson, both of whom live near the lake in the city’s Highwood neighborhood, say they were caught unaware by the project and question its premise.
Both are asking for at least one public input session about the project.
In particular, Dimond objects to the Corps’ use of 400,000 cubic yards of “dredge spoils” to build the islands — materials dragged from the bottom of the Mississippi River and placed in growing stockpiles.
“The proposed USACE project is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The USACE needs to get rid of polluted dredge spoils,” Dimond said. “If you ever get anybody down to see this park, they’d be raising holy hell.”
It’s true that the park is difficult to find. Nestled among rail yards and barge terminals, U.S. Highway 61 to the east and the well-hidden Pig’s Eye Regional Park to the north, the park can only be accessed by driving through a wood chipping yard.
As far as pollution, Dimond acknowledges that the dredge materials meet standards of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency — but chafes at the idea of any pollution at all being placed in an area of the city that has seen plenty of it.
“No polluted/contaminated material will be dumped in Pig’s Eye Lake,” the Corps wrote in response to Dimond and Johnson, noting the materials were tested and found suitable for constructing aquatic habitats, as called for in the project.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says everything dredged from the Mississippi is contaminated to some degree — but adds that placing it into the lake would likely be beneficial, given the lake’s history.
In previous years, the land to the north was Pig’s Eye Dump: the largest Superfund site in the state, remediated just after the turn of the millennium.
“To take sentiment from farther down the Mississippi, which is probably much less contaminated than Pig’s Eye Lake, and to put them in Pig’s Eye Lake, it’s probably a good thing,” said MPCA spokesman Walker Smith.
“Everything’s contaminated with something, and heaven knows the stuff that goes into the Mississippi is contaminated. … But for sure, where they have dredged up that stuff is less contaminated than the sediment in Pig’s Eye Lake.”
Dimond also questions whether the lakeshore is in fact eroding — noting no topographical data was collected, and instead the Corps relied on photographic evidence for a lake whose levels fluctuate throughout the year. He himself produced photos showing the waterline fluctuating over decades.
Corps officials say their photos asserting a decline in water levels were taken on days with “similar and normal water levels.”
“I don’t know Tom’s qualifications. We have biologists and geo-spacial information systems experts looking at this and believe that it is eroding,” said Corps spokesman Nate Campbell.
Former Rep. Johnson, who worked on the Pig’s Eye Dump project for decades both as a legislator and citizen, largely confines his criticisms to the need for a public input session.
“I would like to see more public input of what the plan entails and its implications. I’ve read through the material — I think St. Paul raises an important point,” Johnson said.
In a letter to the Corps, St. Paul officials expressed some reservations about the project, worrying about the islands’ long-term stability and calling the ongoing maintenance budget “woefully inadequate.”
Corps project manager Campbell said his organization followed all procedural rules for input, and received feedback from various state and local agencies. But, he added, no public comment session was mandated.
“I was unaware of it (the project), and I don’t know anyone that was aware that I hang out with,” said Johnson, adding, “My peers in the neighborhood are very involved in land-use issues.”
Construction on the project is slated to begin in summer 2020.
