Cottage Grove considering mining proposal, getting pushback from the community
A mining company wants to dig for materials beneath the Mississippi River in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.
The proposal is getting plenty of pushback from neighbors and government agencies.
The mining company's pitch is based on a land agreement from nearly 100 years ago.
A Chicago-based company called Amrize currently controls the mine producing aggregate construction materials for the Twin Cities metro area.
"I'm not aware of anywhere else in Minnesota where they're mining in the Mississippi River or any other public body of water," said Colleen O'Connor Tovorman, the planning director of Friends of the Mississippi River.
Amrize claims they'll run out of resources by 2029 in the area they're currently mining — making the claim they need to dig into the river.
The company says it's land they own because the river doesn't always flow here, pointing out that this area was submerged in the 1930s when a dam was constructed downstream.
"The company says that they have the right to mine here and that's not true. This is a public waterway, this is the Mississippi River," said O'Connor Tovorman.
There are hundreds of public comments raising concerns about potential damage to Native American burial grounds, local habitats and the flow of the river itself.
"Several other government entities have said that this environmental impact statement is so flawed, missing so much information that it might not even be legal," said O'Connor Tovorman.
Those agencies are taking issue with what they describe as a narrow scope on the environmental impact statement — pushing the company to find an alternative before attempting this drastic step in the riverbed.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was made public in November of 2024.
The public comments were overwhelmingly critical of the project, with dozens of individual neighbors raising concerns about the ecological impact and the potential loss of fishing, kayaking and other recreational activities in the area.
Government agencies outside the City of Cottage Grove, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, were united in pointing out possible legal issues with the "narrow" scope of the DEIS.
Daryl Wierzbinski with the USACE made clear that Holcim, the company preceding Amrize, did not do enough to find alternatives before taking the drastic step of attempting to mine in the river.
The Cottage Grove City Council is expected to vote on moving forward Wednesday night but both state and federal agencies would have the final word.
O'Connor Tovorman said that she anticipates numerous legal challenges if the city council approves Final Environmental Impact Statement, submitted in October of this year.
Amrize would need to get permit approvals from several state and federal agencies. Even if those permits are approved, it's a process that could take years.
WCCO reached out to the mayor and council members, but they were not available Wednesday. The mayor said he would be happy to talk after the City Council meeting.
The mining company did not return WCCO's request for comment.