St. Louis River Estuary Cleanup

under planning

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is planning to complete, by 2020, design work and clean up contaminated sediments and industrial waste at 10 locations in the St. Louis River estuary and Duluth harbor and bay. The International Joint Commission, a U.S. and Canadian body that pursues objectives concerning the two countries’ boundary waters, designated the St. Louis River estuary as the St. Louis River Area of Concern (SLRAOC). Decades of uncontrolled pollution, accrued before modern pollution laws went into effect, have led to impacts, including the physical loss of fish and wildlife habitat as well as riverbed sediments that are contaminated with mercury, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other toxins. This project will clean up contaminated sediments and restore aquatic habitats.