Curious about Unity Island Project

[Stephen Glassic]

I was looking at a past newsletter where there was an article that talked about a Unity Island wetland restoration project. I wasn't sure where it was so I googled it and found this video that was made by the Army Corps of Engineers and posted on YouTube by Buffalo News. It says that they used material that was dredged from the Buffalo R. to fill in the pond. They are using the material to fill in the pond to create a wetland environment but I am wondering how it can be used without concern of it being a toxic environment for fish and wildlife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjUahLubMNc

[John Jarosz]

Steve..and you're not the only one asking that question. Here's the short answer. In the meantime we're working on getting Andrew Hannes, who's the lead ecologist from the Corps on this project, as a speaker at a future meeting.

A few years ago the Corps dredged the Bflo River & dumped all the toxic stuff in the hazardous waste area at the Steel Plant. Now, in theory, anything that's dredged is newly deposited (from the Bflo River watershed), and is not toxic. Before it's dumped, it's supposed to be tested for toxicity. If it's OK, it goes into Unity Island as fill.

That's what's supposed to happen. Best thing to do is ask Andrew that exact same question when he speaks at our meeting