Army Corps extends comment period on controversial Wabasha dredging plan

The Army Corps of Engineers for the fourth time is extending the public comment period, until August 25th, on a controversial plan to store sand dredged from the Mississippi River near a residential area in Wabasha before it’s trucked elsewhere. Mayor Rollin Hall says a couple hundred thousand cubic yards would be left to dry for a year, then hauled out, and that process repeated for 30 to 40 years.  He points to “noise pollution, the air pollution possibly; the safety is in the neighborhood with children; and maybe our property values will be negatively affected.”  Hall says Wabasha officials asked the Army Corps to delay the project but the request was denied. A lawsuit is one option but the mayor says that would be a last resort. Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.