Wabasha barge facility – environmental review
Jun 15, 2022 | winonapost.com (full link below)
The Wabasha Port Authority has received a state Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW), from the city of Wabasha for the development of a barge facility along the Mississippi River. The facility is proposed on an approximately 54-acre site in Section 30, Township 111N, Range 10W, in the city of Wabasha, Wabasha County. The purpose of the barge facility is to receive and store sand, rock, and gravel materials that are annually dredged from the Mississippi River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain a 9-foot navigable channel along this stretch of the Mississippi River. A high percentage of this material is suitable sand and aggregate. The Wabasha barge terminal site proposes to repurpose the dredge material with the marketable aggregate/sand product being sold and exported offsite. Plans for the non-marketable dredge material include using the material as fill for area gravel pits thereby reducing mine reclamation costs.
As part of the planning and design phase of project development, an EAW has been prepared and will be available for public and agency review beginning June 21, 2022. The EAW documents the purpose and need of the project along with the anticipated social, economic, and environmental effects. An electronic copy of the EAW is available for review at the city’s website at www.wabasha.org/eaw.
A public scoping meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. at the Wabasha City Hall (900 Hiawatha Drive East, Wabasha, MN 55981). The meeting will occur as part of the regularly scheduled Wabasha Port Authority and Development Agency meeting. Interested individuals unable to attend in-person can attend virtually using this Zoom weblink: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82539841446.
The deadline for providing comments on the EAW is July 21, 2022. All comments should be directed to: Caroline Gregerson, cityadmin@wabasha.org, Wabasha Port Authority, 900 Hiawatha Drive East, Wabasha, MN 55981, or submitted via e-mail at cityadmin@wabasha.org.