5.2. SR 05-16-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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e APH 7 195'4 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency April 6, 1994 Mr. Steven Rohlf Ci ty Hall 13065 Orono Parkway Elk River, Minnesota 55330 RE: Elk River Gravel Mining nj~trict, En"iron~ental Impact St~t~mcnt Dear Mr. Rohlf: The above document has been reviewed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) staff. We offer the following comments for your consideration. e The MPCA staff commends the city and the various mining companies involved for their cooperative effort in developing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Environmental review benefits from a broad scope approach such as you have taken, rather than dealing with individual and neighboring mines on a piecemeal basis. In many ways your work can serve as a model for other local governments conducting environmental review of mining areas. We also appreciate the time taken by city staff to meet with the MPCA staff on March 18, 1994, and discuss issues in connection with this EIS. Our staff's discussion with the city suggests that the city shares our view that surface water ponds and lakes left in the mine pits will serve as valuable recreation, fisheries, and wildlife resources. We are pleased to learn that in the post-mining development of the district, when land uses convert to residential, commercial, and industrial purposes, the city will require that best management practices (BMPs) are implemented to protect these abandoned pit waters. In particular, the city has told ollr staff that BMPs such as sedimentation basins and skimmers would be used to treat storm water before it enters the pit waters. We would like to stress that such pits should not be utilized for treatment of storm water, in part because of concerns that the pits can provide an easy pathway for contaminants to reach ground water. We suggest that the city consider the feasibility of routing post-mining storm water (particularly that generated in the vicinity of the landfill) away from the ponds left in the pits, so as to maintain the long-term quality of these ponds. We strongly recommend that, in the final EIS, the city stress this approach to post-mining storm water management in the mining district, since we believe it is important to document for future water quality planning efforts. e The EIS should note concerns over how mining in the north part of the district might potentially affect leachate contaminant movement from the landfill. 520 Lafayette Rd. N.; St. Paul, MN 55155-4194; (612) 296-6300 (voice); (612) 282-5332 (TTY) Regional Offices: Duluth. Brainerd. Detroit Lakes. Marshall. Rochester Equal Opportunity Employer. Printed on recycled paper containing at least 10% fibers from paper recycled by consumers.