GLIN==> Public Input Sought on Appearance of St. Louis River

ST. LOUIS RIVER ALLIANCE
NEWS RELEASE


 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


9/8/11
Contact: Julene Boe, Executive Director, (218) 733-9520

Public Input Sought on the Current Appearance of the St. Louis River

 

DULUTH, Minn. -- The St. Louis River Alliance is seeking public input
regarding the current appearance of the St. Louis River during the month of
September. When the St. Louis River was listed as an Area of Concern on the
Great Lakes, one of the problems identified was the degradation of
aesthetics. The appearance of the St. Louis River was considered negatively
impacted due to the presence of oil, chemical and tar residues, grain and
grain dust, taconite pellets in the water and along the shoreline as well as
large accumulations of foam. 

 

In the past several years, extensive clean-up activities at two major
contaminated sites and tighter regulations on cargo handling have reduced or
eliminated the occurrences of these substances on the river. Much of the
foam has been determined as naturally occurring and not caused by pollution.
The Alliance wants to hear if the public has or has not noticed any of these
visual issues recently on the river, especially from people who spend a lot
of time on the river. 

 

Public input will be helpful in the formal process led by local and state
agencies to determine whether these substances are no longer impacting the
river's appearance and to propose removing the aesthetics issue from the St.
Louis River Area of Concern. St Louis Alliance Executive Director Julene Boe
said, "We want to hear from people who don't see any of these substances on
the river as well from anyone who may have seen them."  

 

Over the next three weekends, the Alliance will be surveying people at boat
launches in Minnesota and Wisconsin about the river's appearance while they
are boating on the river. Alliance staff will be at Rice's Point and Munger
Landing launches in Duluth and Arrowhead Pier and Loon's Foot Landing in
Superior.

 

The Alliance will also hold two public meetings as part of an effort to
determine if there are still any occurrences of certain substances that
negatively impact the aesthetics of the St. Louis River. The first meeting
will be held on Wednesday, September 21 at the Superior Public Library
classroom, 1530 Tower Ave., Superior, WI, from 6:30-7:30 p.m.; and the
second will be held on Thursday, September 22 at the Evergreen Senior
Center, City Center West, 5830 Grand Ave., Duluth, MN, from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

 

People can also provide input regarding the river appearance by calling the
St. Louis River Alliance at 218-733-9520, or emailing
slrcac at stlouisriver.org. For more information on this effort, visit the
project web site:  

http://www.stlouisriver.org/AOC%20Issues.html.

 

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