Speakers challenge MAC plans for Bureau of Mines site

Dan Wascoe Jr. / Star Tribune
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul)
Published Tuesday, August 29, 2000

Plans for the former U.S. Bureau of Mines research campus near the Mississippi River and Fort Snelling got a contentious airing Monday night in a nearly airless federal meeting room.

Advocates seeking a center that would explain Minnesota's Indian roots near the property repeated their request before metropolitan, state and federal officials in the Whipple office building near Fort Snelling, where the air conditioning had been turned off for the night.

The meeting kicked off a review by the National Park Service and other agencies of historic and cultural resources on the 27-acre site that the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) wants to reserve as a runway safety zone near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The MAC wants to buy the property for $6 million and remove most buildings to keep it from being developed. The site is near a runway that it intends to lengthen.

Plans for extending the crosswind runway from 11,000 to 12,000 feet have been pushed back because Northwest Airlines no longer plans to fly large jets between the Twin Cities and Hong Kong -- flights that would have required the longer runway. But Nigel Finney, the MAC's deputy executive director, said Monday that the agency still is pursuing the deal because "the opportunity to purchase is here now."

On Monday night, however, many questioned whether the MAC's practice of pumping water from airport construction might harm nearby Camp Coldwater spring. Indian spokesmen including Jim Anderson, cultural chairman of the Mendota Dakota community, said the spring is spiritually important to Indians and historically significant to others.

Speakers also challenged the MAC's plan to reserve 7 acres of the site for potential employee parking. MAC Executive Director Jeff Hamiel and Finney have said recently that the MAC no longer has such plans, but speakers nonetheless accused the agency of harming the environment and of lying to residents.

Even though jurisdiction for runway safety zones rests with airport agencies, State Rep. Karen Clark questioned whether the land transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior was necessary. Bob Doyle, head of the team that is resolving the fate of the Bureau of Mines site, said the MAC's offer represented "the best value for the dollar" because the MAC would maintain the land. He added that the sale process is well-advanced, and that pre-sale negotiations could produce binding protections for the property.

Under pressure from the audience, Doyle extended the deadline for public comments from Sept. 5 to Sept. 15. Send comments to the National Park Service, 111 E. Kellogg Blvd., Suite 105, St. Paul, MN 55101.

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