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Article / Report Archives :::: |
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| The statements and opinions reflected in these articles and reports are the views of the author and not necessarily those of Friends of Coldwater. We encourage a diversity of opinions. Any links posted on these pages are active at time of posting and will not be updated. |
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2001
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Editorial:
Camp Coldwater Spring / Challenge to MnDOT has merit
Published Friday June 15 - Minneapolis Star Tribune
It's easy to understand the Minnesota Department of Transportation's resistance to more scrutiny of its Hwy. 55 project, this time to determine the probable impacts on Camp Coldwater Spring. Debate over this roadway has been unusually harsh, and some of the objections have carried more weight than others.
But the merits of this challenge are beyond question. The spring is a significant resource and an official historic site, figuring in the first European settlement of the area and holding a sacred place in Native American culture for generations before that. The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District is a legitimate public body with a record of responsible service, and its concerns here are plausible.
(complete editorial reposted - click here >>)
How a gurgling spring washed out a major interchange
Published Sunday, Setptember 23 - Minneapolis Star Tribune
by Steve Brandt
The gurgling flow of Camp Coldwater Spring can fill a bathtub in less than 30 seconds. That's enough force to wash out a multimillion-dollar state road project.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) announced last week that it is canceling construction of the partially built Hwy. 55/62 interchange because of a law protecting the spring. The newly passed law prohibits agencies from impairing the spring.
(complete article reposted - click here >>)
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2002
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Camp Coldwater Spring: Scene of a showdown
Broadcast February 6 Minnesota Public Radio
by Mary Losure
Sen. Julie Sabo, DFL-Minneapolis, is urging both sides of a disputed highway project to come to a compromise to save the Camp Coldwater Spring near the intersection of highways 55 and 62. Sabo is the author of legislation passed last session protecting the spring. But the law has halted construction of a $16 million interchange.
Defenders of the Camp Coldwater spring say its an important part of the state's heritage. The spring's water sustained U.S. troops who build Fort Snelling in the early 1800s. And Native American elders from tribes in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin have testified to its cultural and religious significance.
(complete article - click here >>)
(clicking on this link opens a new window. Close to return here) |
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2003
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Compromising Coldwater?
Published January 2003 Southside Pride
by Susu Jeffrey
MnDOT is seeking permission from local watershed districts to alter its Highway 55/62 interchange redesign. Engineers have discovered that the light rail transit bridge footing is in the way of the proposed waterproof underground roadway liner. The interchange design, as it stands, is the centerpiece of a significant compromise between MnDOT engineers and activists working to preserve Camp Coldwater Springs, which flows beneath the future roadway. MnDOT’s proposed changes could significantly impact the spring, and activists are worried.
At issue in the design of the roadway is how it will affect the water table beneath it. The spring emerges from below ground at a well in nearby Camp Coldwater. Activists monitoring the spring have noticed that its outflow dropped precipitously when construction began.
(complete article - click here >>)
Citizens cut out of development planning
Published November 2003 Southside Pride
by Susu Jeffrey
Watershed districts will be making decisions about road building and residential and commercial development with no direct accountability to the people whose lives and land are forever changed.
The Minnesota state Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is writing new rules that do not allow citizens to appeal a decision made by regional watershed districts. "A public transportation authority may appeal a permit decision," according to BWSR’s October 14 draft of rules. Citizens may appeal a "rule" but not a "decision."
(complete article - click here >>) |
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2004
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| Unpublished / Reports: |
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2001
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2002
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2003
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The Hwy 55/62 Interchange Reconstruction Project and Camp Coldwater Spring: Did the Minnesota Department of Transportation Violate the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act?
Released December 10 2003
by John M. Gleason
Bemidji State University, M.S. Candidate
Environmental Studies/Hydrogeology
In 2000, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) became concerned that a new Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) project to reconstruct the Hwy 55/62 interchange in Minneapolis would permanently disrupt groundwater flow to Camp Coldwater Spring, a fresh water spring located near Minnehaha Falls and the site of a historic pioneer settlement that is considered the „Birthplace of Minnesota‰. Thus began a bitter and intriguing legal, scientific, and political dispute between MNDOT and MCWD that was not resolved until 2003.
(complete report - click here >>) |
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2004
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