Title
Supporting clean-up and restoration of Pig’s Eye Lake
Body
WHEREAS, Pig’s Eye Lake and surrounding wetlands and flood plain forests have been used as a dump and a landfill, beginning in the 1920s and continuing until the early 1970s; and
WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota has designated the Pig’s Eye landfill and Fish Hatchery dump site as State of Minnesota Superfund sites in 1989; and
WHEREAS, this superfund site is entirely located within the boundaries of the following natural, historic, cultural and recreational sites: Pig’s Eye Regional Park; the Mississippi National River and Recreational Area, a national park so designed in 1988; the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area, designated as such for enhanced natural resource and environmental protection by the City of Saint Paul, the Metropolitan Council and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; and
WHEREAS, this area is part of the Great River Passage initiative and its East Side River District project, where the river has many shared uses including Dakota homeland and sacred sites, industry, parks and recreation, and natural areas, that all contribute to these efforts to create a world class vision for the East Side River District; and
WHEREAS, this area is within one of the major North American flyways for migratory species, and includes the Pig's Eye Island Heron Rookery Scientific and Natural Area, which. over time, has seen a decline in the heron population, and a high level of pollutant in the heron rookery eggs; and
WHEREAS, worldwide climate change and climate disruptions point to a significantly increased risk of unprecedented flooding of the Pig’s Eye superfund site and dispersal of dangerous pollutants, including per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals” into the Mississippi River and from which downstream communities draw their drinking water; and
WHEREAS, cleanup of pollution and restoration of wetlands enhances habitat...
Click here for full text