Dredging at the Munger Landing in Duluth, MN is complete, and restoration is underway. The project is part of the St. Louis River Area of Concern effort to remediate contaminated sediment and restore degraded habitat. The Munger Landing work is being performed by EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office in a Great Lakes Legacy Act funding partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and industry, with construction oversight assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Approximately 107,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with PCBs and dioxin/furans were removed in 2022-2023 and about 72,000 tons of dredged and dewatered material were transported to the appropriate disposal facilities. The remainder of the sediment is passively dewatering in geotextile tubes and will be transported to a disposal facility at the end of the field season. Water generated from the dewatering is treated and monitored to meet water quality standards and returned to the St. Louis River.
EPA’s contractor has begun placement of a 6-12 inch residual sand cover across the 38-acre footprint to be followed by the placement of biomedium over approximately eight acres of shallow water habitat. The biomedium is a beneficial use of Perch Lake material, a sediment containing natural seed stock sourced nearby from the river that is mixed with sand. It will recreate important fish spawning habitat in this stretch of river. With the remainder of the construction season in 2023, EPA’s contractor will reconstruct the boat launch, build a sandy paddle launch area, and install native seed mixes.