Premier Doer Press Release and Comments of EPA of Army Corps of Engineers Draft EIS on Devils Lake Outlet Plan
Environmental Protection Agency Announcement May 8
See EPA news release "Oops" at
May 10
May 10, 2002
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY CRITICISM OF PROPOSED
DEVILS LAKE OUTLET WELCOME: DOER
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Premier to Follow Up With Federal Government
Premier Gary Doer today said he welcomed the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) recommendation of earlier this
week against the proposed
outlet for Devils Lake, N.D.
"Many people in towns and cities on the Sheyenne and Red
rivers, and in Canada, may be harmed if the outlet is constructed
and operated. Drinking water
supplies, for example, could become polluted," stated the
EPA.
"The EPA statement is dead-on in its assessment of the
Devils Lake outlet," said Doer. "They back up every one
of our concerns about the potential effects
downstream to Manitoba communities, our environment and our
economy. It’s about time."
Furthermore, the EPA’s statement recognized that the Devils
Lake outlet would likely be of little aid to the residents of the
Devils Lake area. "The outlet,
designed to relieve flooding, will do little to prevent further
flooding and protect the communities around the lake," it
said.
Doer noted the EPA’s statement met with intense reaction
from backers of the outlet at both the U.S. federal and state
levels, highlighting the importance of
this development.
Doer said he will be following up on this positive development
with the Canadian federal government.
"The outlet remains a major concern for us and we must
continue to be vigilant and take every step available in opposing
a Devils Lake outlet," said Doer.
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NOTE: EPA news release.
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Region 8
Office of Communications and
Public Involvement (80C)
999 18th Street, Suite 300
Denver, CO 80202-2466
Colorado, Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota
Utah, Wyoming
Environmental News Advisory
EPA urges against Devils Lake, ND outlet
Denver -- The Region 8 office of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has recommended against a proposal to
construct an emergency outlet at
Devils Lake, ND. The outlet, designed to relieve flooding, will
do little to prevent further flooding and protect the communities
around the lake, according to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' evaluation of the project's
impacts.
Furthermore, many people in towns and cities on the Sheyenne and
Red Rivers, and in Canada, may be harmed if the outlet is
constructed and operated.
Drinking water supplies, for example, could become polluted. The
outlet will negatively impact water quality in those rivers,
exceed water quality standards in
the Red River and impair aquatic habitat in the Sheyenne River.
The Devils Lake water is high in total dissolved solids and other
contaminants. The proposal
does not disclose the mitigation needed for these adverse
impacts, as required under the Clean Water Act.
It is also possible that nonnative species could enter the Red
River and Hudson Bay drainage from Devils Lake. The evaluation
does not address how the
project will meet federal requirements to protect against the
risk of invasive species transfer. Rather, the Corps proposes
building the outlet first, and then
submitting a mitigation plan to EPA for review.
The Corps' evaluation failed to consider cumulative impacts of a
proposed Missouri River inlet and the State's proposed outlet
project which is currently
funded. The Corps' proposed project is not funded, and
congressional appropriations would be required. The evaluation
does not address how the project will
comply with the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, which requires no
degradation of waters from the U.S. and Canada that flow across
the border between the
two countries.
EPA is also concerned with the precedent of the Corps proposing a
project that violates the benefit/cost standard of its own
planning guidance. The guidance
prohibits economically inefficient projects, and the emergency
outlet reportedly has a benefit/cost ratio of 0.37. According to
EPA, that ratio is actually an
understatement because it does not factor in most environmental
costs.
The Agency's goal with this review and recommendation is to
disclose potential impacts and propose solutions that do not do
any further harm to the people
affected by the project. Possible alternatives for storing
additional water upstream from Devils Lake include upper basin
water storage, wetlands restoration and
water-conserving agricultural practices. These alternatives were
not fully evaluated in the Corps' proposal.