Commissioners discuss problems with lake cleanup following storm

Jake Keohen, Montgomery Messenger

The Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners discussed the problems associated with cleanup of lakes affected by the August tornado at its meeting held Tuesday, Oct. 24 at the courthouse in Le Center.

Lake Emily, Scotch Lake and Huoy Lake and perhaps others in the Cleveland area are known to have debris in the water following the devastating August 24 tornado. The problem is-no government agency is willing to take the responsibility of determining what is located in the waters, how it should be removed and who is responsible for removal. A homeowner may request insurance coverage if an item is identified as theirs, but unless the item is licensed, such as a snowmobile or other vehicle, it could be nearly impossible to determine ownership.

A Tornado Debris Lakes Assessment Meeting was held at the courthouse last Thursday, Oct. 19 involving several departments, agencies and individuals, but according to comments made at Tuesday's county board meeting, little was accomplished to resolve the situation.

Invited for the meeting were affected residents, the Lake Emily Lake Assn., county commissioners, county staff including Emergency Management Director Ron Germscheid, Solid Waste Director Amy Beatty and Water Plan Coordinator Lauren Clement, Kasota, Cleveland and Cordova township officials, State Rep. Laura Brod, State Sen. Tom Neuville, county sheriff's office dive team representative, MN Dept. of Public Safety, Homeland Security and Emergency Mgt., DNR, MPCA and West Central Environmental Consultants (contractor for MPCA).

Tuesday's discussion included confirming that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will do some scanning of the waters, but any further action to be taken was undetermined.

I wonder how this would be handled if the storm had hit around Lake Minnetonka