U.S. EPA, in partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), has substantially completed the remediation of 55,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with legacy pollutants at Scanlon Reservoir in the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC).
To address the contaminated sediments at Scanlon Reservoir, project partners placed a thin layer of carbon pellets across 13.5 acres of aquatic habitat, with deeper areas of the reservoir also receiving a sand cover. The filtering power of the activated carbon prevents pollution from collecting in small organisms and moving up the food chain. This project also improves the habitat for fish, wildlife, and the community. While some on-land construction activities like grading and seeding remain, this action marks a major milestone in the restoration, and ultimate delisting, of the St. Louis River AOC.
Partially funded through the GLRI under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this work represents the fifth remediation project in a successful partnership between EPA and MPCA under the Great Lakes Legacy Act sediment program. Two more projects are underway or in planning under this program.