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Onorato Announces 65-Acre Addition to North Park
(Allegheny County press release, 12-14-2006)
New land will aid in North Park Lake dredging project
(December 14, 2006)
Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato today announced
the addition of 65 acres of land to North Park.
The land, a brownfield situated in Hampton Township and contiguous to the park, will initially be used as a collection
site for material dredged from North Park Lake. Once the dredging project is completed, the site will be converted
to usable park land.
“This is another successful example
of Allegheny County converting brownfields into greenfields,” said Onorato
“This former industrial site will not only allow us to perform the critical
dredging project to return North Park Lake to its former glory, but it will
also add acres of recreational and green space to the park. I want to thank
the Richard King Mellon Foundation for helping us to take this important
step.”
The Richard King Mellon Foundation
generously donated approximately half of the $460,900 cost to purchase the 65
acres of land. The remaining cost will be covered by Allegheny County’s portion of Growing Greener II, a voter-approved $625-million bond
issue. The Western
Pennsylvania Conservancy
will serve as the fiscal agent for the purchase and will immediately transfer
the land to the County upon closing at the end of this month.
“This is a critical
piece of property for the North Park
Lake dredging project,” said Allegheny County
Parks Director Andy Baechle. “We wouldn’t be able
to move forward without this land, which is close to the lake. Moving 400,000
cubic yards of dredge material to a more distant location would have been
cost prohibitive.”
The 65-acre parcel was used as a
disposal site for fly ash for many years. The land has since been cleaned,
and the dredge material from the lake will help to further reclaim the
property and return it to viable recreational use. The County plans to begin
design and construction work on the North Park Lake dredging project in 2007, and work is scheduled to begin in 2008.
UPDATE - 9/2006. The Army Corps of Engineers is recommending, in their
Draft Detailed Project Report and Integrated Environmental Assessment, to
truck the dredge material from North Park
Lake to three placement sites,
the County Site,
Bull Pen Site and Wildwood Mine Site. Allegheny
County is currently working with
the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to acquire the 64.76 acre Wildwood site,
a partially reclaimed coal mine waste (gob) pile. We are optimistic that the
Wildwood site will be placement site for the dredge material.
However,
Latodami’s upper fields remain the alternate
disposal site for 400,000 cubic yards of dredge material. The project is
described as an environmental project that (under Section 206 of the Water Resources
Development Act of 1996) can only be done if it will improve the quality of
the environment and is in the public’s best interest. We believe that the
current plan to continue the process of reclaiming the Wildwood Mine Site is
well in keeping with these goals. However, the alternative plan to dump the
dredge material onto the Latodami fields is neither environmentally sound nor
in the public’s best interest.
We disagree with the biased way that the Army Corps has
chosen to categorize Latodami in their report. For many years this site has
engaged individuals and organizations in conservation efforts and it
continues to do so today. The Latodami site is part of an Important Mammal
Area, an integral component of a Barn Owl re-introduction program and a
native grassland habitat project for species that are declining in Pennsylvania.
The Latodami site is an aesthetic natural landscape that is also a
potentially significant archaeological area. Work is being done on proposals
to designate it as part of an Important Bird Area and an historical area. The
site is also adjacent to Latodami’s EPA funded Riparian Restoration Project.
PLEASE HELP ENSURE THAT
LATODAMI WILL NOT BE BURIED IN DREDGE MATERIAL.
The Draft Detailed Project Report (DPR)
and Integrated Environmental Assessment, North Park Lake Section 206 Aquatic
Ecosystem Restoration Project is available at http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/pm/draft_detailed_project_report.htm
Please send comments on this
draft report to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mr. Larry Moskovitz,
Project Planner, email: larry.r.moskivitz@usace.army.mil.
Comments
may also be submitted in writing to
Curtis
N. Meeder Chief, Planning and Environmental branch
Department
of the Army, Pittsburgh District, Corps of Engineers
William
S. Moorhead Federal
Building, 1000
Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh,
PA 15222-4186
To be considered, all comments must be received no later
than close of business, Sept. 29,
2006.
Please help Latodami by sending in your comments before
the deadline.
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