Heartland Dredging arrived on May 2 to begin dredging activities. Sediment basin construction was to begin first, but review of Federal regulations protecting eagles forced rescheduling of those activities until after August 1.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines prohibit activities that disturb eagles and cause them to abandon their nests. Our construction activities will be closer to our eagles’ nest than permitted during the nesting season.
Our sediment basin preparation is allowed outside the nesting season, which is from August through mid-January. Heartland plans to build sediment basins south of the lake in early-August with dredging beginning a couple weeks later.