USACE seeks comments on Pool 8 EA

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), St. Paul District, is seeking public comments on its draft environmental assessment of the Goose Island cultural resource protection project, proposed for Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River.

The primary goal of the proposed project is to protect a section of shoreline of the island, which would preserve the existing archaeological site within the area.

To accomplish this, the Corps is planning to place rock riprap onto the existing shoreline to reduce the erosive forces of the river acting on the site.

According to USACE, the rock would be placed along 1,200 feet of the shoreline and encompass approximately 0.8 acres of the existing shoreline and riverbed.

The project area is within the of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

“Cultural resources are integral, nonrenewable elements that are often fragile tangible objects subject to damage. Preserving and minimizing the degradation of known cultural resources on their property is one of the many responsibilities of the Corps,” USACE stated in their official announcement.

A public review and comment period on the draft environmental assessment started earlier this week and will end March 22.