Below are the names of those who sought to protect the Coldwater Spring with the
proper protection that this site of significance to so many, deserves. Please give
them a call, or send them a letter and ask that they deny MnDOT�s request to
become somehow above all others and become exempt from the law that protects
Coldwater from dewatering.
To date the disregard for this community resource by MnDOT has reached it�s
height in their attempt to become exempt from the law. MnDOT who has
consistently declared that they would protect Coldwater Spring is now seeking to
become exempt from legally being responsible for doing so.
MnDOT who on;
January 9, 1999 Star Tribune editorial authored by Bob McFarlin (MnDOT's
thendirector of
public affairs) in which he states:
The very best the community can do is study all the potential
impacts
thoroughly, factually and within the law, and then exercise
informed
leadership for the good of all. The Hiawatha Corridor Project is a
shining,
successful example of this type of community consensus.
On August 25, 1993, the Minnesota Department of Transportation requested a
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) from the Federal Highway Administration.
In order to do so, public record of community input was destroyed, removing the
community opposition to their project so as to win Federal approval. This was
reported on in various newspapers.
Camp Coldwater was designated as Historical Site by Hennepin County Historical
Society in 1952.
Minnesota Historical Society puts up historical marker at Camp Coldwater in July
1991.
The State Historical Preservation Office commissioned Bryant Intertec to do
historical background check as part of its closing procedure in 1996. The report
states in its recommendation, the spring should be preserved.
In December of 1997, Russell Fridley the former president of the Minnesota
Historical Society, filed deposition in lawsuit in favor of preserving the Camp
Coldwater site because of its historical place in Minnesota history. 3-19-2001 Iowa
Tribe again declares Camp Coldwater a sacred site.
August 1998 MnDOT told the Indian Affairs Council;
�When completed, the new roadway will not impact the Camp Coldwater site.
Construction is not expected to impact the flow of underground water to the Camp
Coldwater spring.�
The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council then agreed to approve MnDOT�s plans.
However once they found out that MnDOT�s plan to keep Coldwater flowing
included piping in city water if the spring dried up, MIAC changed their stance to
such an extent as to demand the resignation of state archeologist Mark Dudzak
who approved such a plan.
Today as the road is actually being built, MnDOT continues to want out of the
legal responsibility they now have to protect the spring, and is currently lobbying
the legislator to escape that responsibility.
An April 1999 MnDOT study states that �Coldwater will not be affected by
construction�
May 25, 1999, MnDOT states in court (under oath presumably) �We�ve measured
the hydrostatic pressure in the soil and in the [Platteville] limestone and they are
not connected...There�s no construction that we have had design for that impacts
the limestone in any way. All our construction is limited to the soil layer� (Mr.
Wetmore, pg. 109, lines 2 through13)
Actuality: The limestone and soil are hydraulically interconnected. The MCWD
hydrogeologist, Kelton Barr, reviewed pump test data collected in 1973. The data
indicated the saturated soil overlying the Plateville limestone is in hydraulic
connection. This is demonstrated by the hydraulic contours of the saturated
overburden which reflected the fracture zone orientation of the limestone.
July 1999 Open letter from MnDOT Commissioner Tinklenberg states;
�Some people have alleged that Mn/DOT shoved this project down the throats of
citizens. Nothing could be further from the truth.�
Really? Then why is MnDOT trying to undo the specific law the community and
legislators supported and passed to protect Coldwater? Why is MnDOT now
trying to do the opposite of what they said?!?!
October 1999 MnDOT stated in a public news release;
Camp Coldwater Spring was not identified in either the 1983 or 1985 statements
because the project avoids the spring, located on Bureau of Mines property. The
project has been designed to avoid impacting the flow of groundwater to the
spring. Mn/DOT will monitor both water quantity and quality during construction
to insure that the spring is not impacted.
Yet MnDOT continues to lobby the government to release them of the law that
binds MnDOT to do so.
April 27th, 2000 The Bureau of Mines is open for an Open House for the public to
view Coldwater for themselves. MnDOT knwe of the date weeks beforehand. The
day before however, MnDOT just happens to bulldoze the road leading up to the
grounds leaving auto access unpassable, and post no less than six state troopers
to ensure the lack of passage. A 3/4 mile walk was then needed to gain access
around MnDOT construction. Attendance by the public is greatly diminished.
24th May 2000, Coldwater receives watershed protection for the first time. This
process started solely on the backs of citizens who started petitioning for such
protection. Once this became a force big enough for results to happen, MnDOT
brings in another watershed district and essentially starts a fight between the two
of them. The end result is the split of Coldwater we have today, with the outflow in
Minnehaha Creek Watershed, and the source water (according to MnDOT�s own
study, on June 2000) in Lower Minnesota Watershed district. This greatly impedes
quick communication and confuses the boundary of who is supposed to protect
what. Meanwhile MnDOT construction continues.
June 2000, MnDOT releases a groundwater study on Coldwater (as an alternative to
a dye test that MnDOT said they wanted to do first). Concerns having been raised
with an underground storm water sewer line cutting the flow to Coldwater, MnDOT
finally does the right thing for once and raises the grade of the road to avoid
impact.
September 2000, evidence in the June report shows MnDOT storm water holding
pond at highway 62/55 interchange will impact Coldwater Spring. MCWD produces
studies that outline this and provides peer review from Dr. Segiel, a nationally
recognized authority on groundwater; who has served as a expert witness to the
US. Senate, a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a Birdsall Distinguished
Lecturer, and is currently serving on the U. S. Geological Survey Committee on
Hydrologic Research. He finds that not only is Minnehaha Creek�s original
evidence sound, but also that MnDOT�s study is atypical of what is now required
of groundwater modeling.
November, 2000, MnDOT once again states �no impact� to Coldwater spring, at the
Lower Minnesota River Watershed District public meeting.
Then Daniel Dorgan official spokesman of MnDOT agrees to raise the pond a few
feet and also to "Eliminate any such impacts, should significant impacts to Camp
Coldwater Spring occur, as a direct result of this pond". Richard A. Stehr Division
Engineer at MnDOT declares the issue closed, despite the fact that the two
watersheds were not in agreement as required to be by law.
As of today, MnDOT is also continuing to work to exempt itself from the state law
stating Coldwater Spring shall not have it�s flow diminished. There should be no
issue, but for MnDOT there is.
May 16, 2001 it becomes officially illegal to dewater Coldwater Spring.
May 23, 2001 Minnehaha Creek Watershed District must take MnDOT to court in
order to get them to allow a dye test that MnDOT has said they wanted since June
2000. If MnDOT really wants this test why must they be taken to court to have it
done?
Further MCWD states "Camp Coldwater Springs is in imminent danger of being
altered from the construction of highway drainage ponds which will very
realistically divert spring water by as much as 30percent or more ."
May 24, 2001, MnDOT has suggested that taking a few weeks to complete the
groundwater testing would delay LRT construction by a year. Mayor Sharon
Sayles Belton, Hennepin County Commissioner Peter Mclaughlin, State
Representative Wes Skoglund and City Council Member Sandy Colvin Roy (12th
Ward) and Metropolitan Council Board Member District Eight Representative Carol
Kummer, also the LRT Community Advisory Committee Chair reject the assertion
that LRT is an issue. In fact, the MCWD experts have confirmed that LRT
construction poses no threat to the Springs. The real issue is how soon MnDOT is
willing to acknowledge the threat that the highway project represents to the Camp
Coldwater Springs and get the issue resolved.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN., May 30, 2001 Judge Frank Knoll of the Fourth Judicial
District Court of Hennepin County ruled in favor of the Minnehaha Creek
Watershed District (MCWD) in its lawsuit filed May 22 against the Minnesota
Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The decision restrains MnDOT from
dewatering (pumping groundwater from the site) the drain and storm water pond
areas at the Highway 55 and 62 interchange construction site in order to conduct a
groundwater test. The legal decision allows up to four weeks for the dye test
procedure to take place.
MnDOT�s response is to have a fit and begin lobbing the government to become
exempt of this law that simply follows what MnDOT has said all along.
It is clear to me that MnDOT is seeking to avoid being held accountable for damage
to Coldwater Spring. Further because MnDOT seeks to become exempt from a law
that states
�1.9 Neither the state, nor a unit of metropolitan government,
1.10 nor a political subdivision of the state may take any action
1.11 that may diminish the flow of water to or from Camp Coldwater
1.12 Springs.�
And MnDOT being a unit of metropolitan government, their lobbying may be illegal
right from the start being that they seek to take action that may diminish the flow of
water to or from Camp Coldwater Springs. Even if they don�t do it themselves,
MnDOT�s actions, if successful, will diminish the strength of the law, and start the
ball rolling to then allow others to reduce flow because MnDOT weakend the law
for them.
A law that was passed 110 to 20 in the House and unanimous in the Senate. Not a
single witness testified in opposition throughout all committee hearings. MnDOT,
MAC, the DNR and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District all had spokesmen at
the Coldwater hearings.
Below is a list of who voted for and against the bill.
Please call or write as you now have the evidence necessary to speak with
authority and ask that the legislator hold true and not allow MnDOT to diminish
our local Minneapolis resource, Camp Coldwater Spring.
Thanks,
Tom Holtzleiter
Kingfield
In the senate
S.F. No. 2049: A bill for an act relating to historic preservation; recognizing and
extending the
protection of the Minnesota Historic Sites Act and the Minnesota Field
Archaeology Act to
historic Camp Coldwater Springs; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section
138.73, subdivision
13.
Was read the third time and placed on its final passage.
The question was taken on the passage of the bill.
The roll was called, and there were yeas 55 and nays 0, as follows:
Those who voted in the affirmative were:
Anderson Frederickson Krentz Olson Robling
Belanger Higgins Langseth Orfield Sabo
Berglin Hottinger Larson Pappas Sams
Betzold Johnson, Dean Lesewski Pariseau Samuelson
Chaudhary Johnson, Debbie Lessard Pogemiller Scheid
Cohen Kelley, S.P. Lourey Price Schwab
Day Kierlin Marty Ranum Stumpf
Dille Kinkel Metzen Reiter Terwilliger
Fischbach Kiscaden Murphy Rest Vickerman
Foley Kleis Neuville Ring Wiener
Fowler Knutson Oliver Robertson Wiger
So the bill passed and its title was agreed to.
In the house
S. F. No. 2049, A bill for an act relating to historic preservation; recognizing and
extending the protection of the Minnesota Historic Sites Act and the Minnesota
Field Archaeology Act to historic Camp Coldwater Springs; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2000, section 138.73, subdivision 13.
The bill was read for the third time and placed upon its final passage.
The question was taken on the passage of the bill and the roll was called. There
were 110 yeas and 20 nays as follows:
Those who voted in the affirmative were:
Abeler
Erhardt
Jaros
Lipman
Pawlenty
Swapinski
Anderson, B.
Erickson
Jennings
Luther
Paymar
Sykora
Anderson, I.
Evans
Johnson, J.
Mahoney
Pelowski
Thompson
Bernardy
Folliard
Johnson, R.
Mares
Peterson
Tingelstad
Biernat
Fuller
Johnson, S.
Mariani
Pugh
Tuma
Boudreau
Gleason
Juhnke
Marko
Rhodes
Wagenius
Carlson
Goodno
Kahn
Marquart
Rukavina
Walz
Clark, J.
Goodwin
Kalis
McGuire
Ruth
Wasiluk
Clark, K.
Gray
Kelliher
Milbert
Schumacher
Wenzel
Daggett
Greiling
Kielkucki
Mullery
Seagren
Westerberg
Davids
Gunther
Koskinen
Murphy
Seifert
Westrom
Davnie
Haas
Krinkie
Ness
Sertich
Wilkin
Dawkins
Harder
Kubly
Nornes
Skoe
Winter
Dehler
Hausman
Larson
Olson
Skoglund
Wolf
Dempsey
Hilstrom
Leighton
Opatz
Slawik
Spk. Sviggum
Dibble
Hilty
Lenczewski
Osskopp
Smith
Dorn
Howes
Leppik
Otremba
Solberg
Eastlund
Huntley
Lieder
Ozment
Stanek
Entenza
Jacobson
Lindner
Paulsen
Stang
Those who voted in the negative were:
Abrams
Cassell
Hackbarth
McElroy
Rifenberg
Workman
Bishop
Dorman
Holberg
Molnau
Swenson
Bradley
Finseth
Holsten
Mulder
Vandeveer
Buesgens
Gerlach
Kuisle
Penas
The bill was passed and its title agreed to.
It was then signed into law by Gov Ventura.
_______________________________________
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