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Walking Father Hennepin Park Toxic Stream with City of Minneapolis

October 26, 2010

Yesterday I was able to show, in person, the City of Minneapolis the point source oil-related pollution in the stream in Father Hennepin Park that I have been witnessing and making art with for over two years.

Constant slick I have seen for over two years in Father Hennepin Park

My persistence in offering to tour with someone from the government agencies involved what I know about FHP finally paid off. I dredged through the toxic muck of FHP with Patrick Hanlon, the Environmental Services Supervisor from the City of Minneapolis. Patrick, a few weeks ago, was the first government official to walk the stream in FHP and really see and smell the petrochemicals in the stream. I was able to show him a second small stream that he did not know about that is always covered in oil. They performed more tests yesterday now looking for gasoline related contaminants rather than diesel fuel. We hypothesized about the possible source and some of the sketchy history of the site. I also was able to tell him how the garbage I removed from the stream during Earth Day was not recent in origin. The type of garbage suggests it had been dumped years ago. My own theory is that there is a pile of dross buried under the surface of the park/stream and it is slowly seeping up. The City will do the testing, but the MPCA has the final authority on what happens after that. Two other contributing factors…from what I understand there is no money in anyone’s budget to pay for any substantial clean up. Secondly,  the city, Excel energy, and the Minneapolis Park Board under the umbrella organization of the Minneapolis Riverfront Corporation want to develop the site by restoring waterfalls on the site.

I was great to meet fellow Mississippi River lover Patrick Hanlon. Here is a TED conference talk by his friend and teacher of the year in Chicago, Aaron Reedy, talking about their journey together down the lower half of the Mississippi River by kayak gathering data and information for Aaron’s interactive classroom. The Big River has a lot to teach us if we just listen, really see, and in the case of FHP smell what is going on.

UPDATE:

The county does have clean-up funds available through the Environmental Response Fund (ERF), but the deadline for application is on Monday November 1st.

Here is the email I sent out to some of the players once I found this out.

Hello Cordelia, (Minneapolis Riverfront Corporation)

I am wondering if I should apply to the Hennepin County Environmental Response Fund as an individual citizen since no one else has determined that the petroleum products in Father Hennepin Park are “actionable” as determined by the MPCA (despite the petrol in the stream for two years and the obvious toxic smell). With the deadline being November 1st there is not much time to figure this all out. Of course I would be over my head as an artist trying to weed my way through this application. I wonder if there are any agencies or non-profits out there willing to consider doing this before the deadline and probably before we get yesterday’s test results back?

Cordelia my main concern here is getting the pollution cleaned up properly and thus right this affront to the ecosystem of the Mississippi River and Father Hennepin Park and improve the water quality of the source of the drinking water of 18,000,000 Americans. The River and water first rather than “resolving this quickly”.

thanks, peter

“I AM ANGRY. I AM OUTRAGED. And I am in love with this beautiful, blue planet we call home.” Terry Tempest Williams

Comments (2) | Tags: Art is Dangerous, Devastating Beauty, Endocrine disruptors, Father Hennepin Park, Mississippi River, Oil addiction | More: Art at Work, Eco-art activism, New Work