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RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO ENTER INTO A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, THE MINNESOTA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE, THE FOND DU LAC BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWA, THE LAKE SUPERIOR MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD COMPANY, AND THE UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION REGARDING THE SPIRIT LAKE SEDIMENT REMEDIATION PROJECT.
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CITY PROPOSAL:
RESOLVED, that the proper city officials are hereby authorized to enter into a memorandum of agreement, substantially in the form of that attached hereto as Exhibit A, with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Lake Superior Mississippi Railroad Company and the United States Steel Corporation regarding the Spirit Lake Sediment Remediation Project in relation to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This resolution authorizes the proper city officials to execute a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Lake Superior Mississippi Railroad Company and the United States Steel Corporation regarding the Spirit Lake Sediment Remediation Project as required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
The MOA addresses work proposed as part of a project being conducted to enhance recovery of the natural areas surrounding the former US Steel site in Morgan Park. The proposed work will include the following actions:
• Sediment capping
• Combined sediment removal and capping
• Dredging and placement of materials in three on-site confined disposal facilities (CDFs)
• Placement of clean fill
• Work on railroad bridges
• Creation of park infrastructure, including trails and other infrastructure
• Habitat restoration
A more complete “Remedy Description” is included on approximately page 19 of the PDF attached as Exhibit A.
As required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, parties to the MOA intend to enter into this MOA to document for the purpose of identifying and planning for specific restoration actions needed to address adverse effects to historic resources arising due to the site restoration at the US Steel site.
The Section 106 process has allowed the parties to advance work related to potential eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for several elements of public infrastructure in the area as well as the Morgan Park Residential Historic District. The process identified that the environmental remediation will result in unavoidable adverse impacts to the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad Corridor Historic District, and therefore included the development of mitigation actions in response to those impacts that have been deemed acceptable to the signatories to this MOA.
The MOA was presented to the city’s heritage preservation commission on May 26, 2020. The HPC recommended approval of the MOA to the city council. Minutes from that meeting are attached as Exhibit B.