To: news@boreal.org
Subject: Poplar River: Public meeting on the official study to determine sources of pollution
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:15:07 -0600
Recent monitoring on the Poplar River found that the river’s water quality is poor enough to be officially listed as impaired due to excessive turbidity (cloudiness or muddiness of the water). Because of this, the river was put on the state’s list of impaired waters by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in 2004. On Thursday, March 1, the Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will host a public meeting to discuss the study being completed to determine the sources of turbidity to the Poplar River. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. March 1, 2007, at the Lutsen Evangelical Lutheran Church, 5307 W. Hwy. 61 in Lutsen.
The MPCA is required to complete the study to determine what’s known as a
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum
amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards. This first public meeting is meant to introduce stakeholders to the partners working on the study, provide an overview of work done to-date and planned activities, and will also address how this project fits in to other current projects on the Poplar River (such as the “megaslump” erosion control project).
Although the Cook County SWCD will serve as the local resource agency for the project, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contractor will complete most of the study’s technical portions. Citizen participation is encouraged, and will be addressed through a series of public meetings like this one, interactions with the Poplar River Management Board and other interested stakeholders, and an official public comment period.
Contact: Dave Stark, Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District
(218) 387-3648 - Office
(218) 428-4413 - Cell
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