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Portion of home next to Rapidan Dam fell into river
Officials said the home tumbled into the river after being “undercut enough” by raging current running outside the failing dam.
MANKATO, Minnesota — A portion of the home closest to the Rapidan Dam tumbled into the serving Blue Earth River Tuesday evening.
Blue Earth County officials said in a very brief news release that the home had been “undercut enough” by water racing around the failing dam and washing away the riverbank before it fell into the river.
Team members from county public works, emergency management and the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office are monitoring for downstream impacts. County officials said they will provide more details on Wednesday morning.
Earlier Tuesday, officials said the volume of floodwaters moving over the compromised dam near Mankato appears to be dropping but concerns remain more damage could occur.
County Engineer and Public Works Director Ryan Thilges met with reporters near the dam on the Blue Earth River to give a status update on the incident, which involved a partial failure of the west abutment. This was due to heavy water flow from recent heavy rains and a buildup of logs and debris on the dam gates.
The powerful rush of water outside the dam created “erosion and slope-cutting” that swallowed up an Xcel Energy substation and a park storage building and sucked them into the rushing river. The riverside park and a private residence nearby remain threatened. Thilges explained that the ‘decay’ of the riverbank had slowed into Tuesday morning, saying it was “considerably less” than the damage that took place the day before.
Thilges said there is a bit of good news in that water flows over the dam have dropped slightly from 34,800 cubic feet per second Monday to 33,000 cfs Tuesday morning, signaling that the situation may be improving. The flows measured Monday make this incident the second-worst in Rapidan Dam history, behind the flood of 1965 that disabled the dam for 10 years. Maximum flow during that incident was measured at 43,100 csf, a happening Thilges referred to as a “500-year event.”
At this point, the Blue Earth County Road 9 bridge that crosses the river remains closed to keep observers from putting themselves in danger. Thilges said the county also wants to inspect the bridge after water levels drop to make sure the structure and the abutments it sits on have not been compromised.
While inspectors from the Army Corps of Engineers are on site helping assess the current condition of the Rapidan Dam, Blue Earth County Public Works staffers are evaluating whether they can implement emergency measures to stop or minimize damage without putting workers in harm’s way.
Thilges told reporters the county had contacted a company with a piece of special equipment to see if they could help remove logs and debris from the upstream side of the dam to alleviate pressure, but was told that equipment was at a site more than five hours out of town. Company officials also expressed concern for the safety of their employees who would be operating that equipment.
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According to the release, deputies arrived at the scene and rescued all four of the hunters, who were treated for hypothermia exposure.
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Minn. — The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is reminding all watercraft users about the importance of life jackets after a boat carrying two adults and two children capsized.
The group of four was rescued after the county’s water patrol boat and dive team airboat were sent to the scene near Bird Lake in Osaki Township on Saturday, according to a release from the office.
It was reported to responding units that the parties were having a “difficult time” staying afloat because their waders had filled with water.
According to the release, deputies arrived at the scene and rescued all four of the hunters, who were treated for hypothermia exposure.
None of the adults or children were wearing lifejackets and there were not enough life jackets for all of the craft’s occupants, according to the statement.
“Hopefully, this call will serve as a reminder for all watercraft users to wear life jackets (or have them immediately accessible), have all children wear life jackets, and to have a life jacket for each occupant. Please do not sacrifice safety when participating in outdoor activities such as waterfowl hunting. Drowning is the leading cause of death for waterfowl hunters,” said the statement.
For decades the area sat idle, polluted by heavy metals from the U.S. Steel Plant. Now, it has a new life and the process took a lot of effort and collaboration.
DULUTH, Minn. — From polluted to pristine. This is a story of a new waterfront recreation area in Duluth that opened, or rather reopened, this summer.
It took millions of dollars, coordinated efforts, and lots of hard work to help it come back to life.
“I think we’re all proud of what this has become,” said Cliff Knettel with Duluth Parks and Recreation.
Cliff is talking about Spirit Lake in the St. Louis River area of Duluth. It’s likely you haven’t visited before, because there wasn’t much to see. Long ago it was a stopping point for the Anishinaabe people. It became a central part of trading and led to the industrialization of the city of Duluth.
Along with that came U.S. Steel. The company operated a plant there until 1981. However, decades of production contaminated the water and land with heavy metals, putting the St. Louis River on the EPA’s area of concern list.
In 2010, through the Great Lakes Legacy Act, a plan was hatched to clean it up.
“All in, it was $185 million to get through all those phases of design, investigation, feasibility, actually implementing, so it’s a very large investment from EPA and US steel, those are the two entities that were contributing financially,” said Mark Loomis, with the U.S. EPA – Great Lakes National Program Office.
Remediation started in 2020. Dredging, capping and restoring habitat all while maintaining water depth for the fisheries. Loomis said the work was nearly 24/7 for 38 months.
“We built over two miles of trails, ADA accessible, dedicated fishing areas, pause points, there’s a landing area for kayaks,” he said. “There was a large area, actually a mud flat, that we actually excavated, removed material to create open water. It’s a very unique part of this project.”
The city of Duluth owns much of the shoreline and this project has opened up access for many people who didn’t have it before. If you’re not familiar with the area, this is on the west side of town, not near the lakefront.
“We’re actually working with the St. Louis River alliance and our own parks and rec staff to offer programs that we couldn’t offer before like fishing, like paddling, like nature hikes, like educational opportunities, so those are happening right now and we’re super excited about that,” said Knettel.
The cleanup will eventually lead to the St. Louis River being delisted as an area of concern, but the biggest win for those involved is seeing the space go back to what it should be.
“Watching the people come back to the site, kind of breathing life into it and the river is there and wildlife is responding. Those are the things that really kind of drive me professionally and personally,” said Loomis.
The E.P.A. said it worked closely with tribal communities to preserve the cultural significance during the project. Signage that explains the history and process of the project will go up next summer.
A package delivered to the St. Paul office prompted an evacuation on Friday afternoon.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A day after a “suspicious mailing” forced the office of the Minnesota secretary of state to evacuate, officials released information about what was inside the box.
According to information from the office of Steve Simon, a nonhazardous white powdered substance was inside the package. The substance was tested by both the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). It was ruled nonhazardous.
MDH is running additional tests.
Multiple agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Minnesota State Patrol, are investigating.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon issued the following statement on Saturday:
“We are thankful for the quick response by our law enforcement partners to ensure the staff members working in our office were safe. We are also grateful to the Minnesota Department of Health, which completed the initial analysis late into the evening on September 27.
Fear and intimidation of election workers will not be tolerated. New laws enacted in 2023 make it very clear that it is a crime to intimidate election workers and interfere with the administration of an election. Our focus remains on delivering a free, fair, accurate, and secure election for Minnesotans.”
On Friday, around two dozen people were evacuated from the building around noon. According to a news release, the package was addressed to the office with a return address to the “United States Traitor Elimination Army.”
The Minnesota Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing the state’s elections. State officials said several other Secretaries of State and state election officials received similar suspicious packages earlier this month.
