St. Paul District Plans Dredged-Material Pipeline At Reads Landing

The St. Paul Engineer District is seeking public comments on a draft plan to install a pipeline near Reads Landing, Minn., that would be used to transport dredged material during maintenance of the Mississippi River navigation channel.

Corps planners are proposing to install a pipeline from Reads Landing to the Wabasha Gravel Pit, just north of Wabasha, Minn. The pipeline would improve upon an existing route that the Corps has used about five times in the past. The new 24-inch diameter plastic pipeline would be approximately 6,030 feet in length and used to move the sand during dredging operations near the confluence of the Mississippi and Chippewa rivers.

If approved, the pipeline would potentially be installed later this year but could be installed next year. The timeline is dependent upon receiving the necessary materials. Corps planners project that the pipeline would be used annually for about three consecutive weeks during the dredging season. It would be cleaned out and capped when not in operation.

A draft Environmental Assessment describing the project and environmental impacts is available on the St. Paul District’s website at www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/PublicNotices.aspx.

Comments on the draft EA are due by March 29. All comments received will be available for public review, to include the possibility of posting on a public website. Questions on the project or comments on the EA should be directed to Dan Kelner, project biologist, at 651-724-2244 or at daniel.e.kelner@usace.army.mil.