Cedar Lake sediment testing to begin next week

CEDAR RAPIDS - Long-awaited environmental testing of sediment and soil at the 120-acre Cedar Lake is scheduled for next week, according to an Iowa Department of Natural Resources assessment plan.

The Phase II testing aims to identify toxins and therefore liability for a new owner, which is critical for those hoping to transfer the old industrial pond from Alliant Energy to the city of Cedar Rapids so it can be restored into a public recreation area. Advocates for lake restoration hoped the testing would have been completed months ago, but are glad to see it get underway.

'This will help dispel all the old wives' tales about what is in the lake and what is not in the lake, and will help provide the framework for moving forward,” said Dale Todd, president of Friends of Cedar Lake.

Todd is among those pushing an $8.8 million Cedar Lake restoration master plan, which recreates the lake with a boardwalk, improved fishing, parking and kayaking. The lake long had been used as a cooling pond for an Alliant power generation plant, which was destroyed in the 2008 flood.

Earlier this year, Iowa DNR conducted a Phase I test, which aimed to justify if a Phase II test was needed. Phase II is an in-depth analysis. The Iowa DNR testing plan calls for 87 samples taken from specific locations.

The samples are to include 40 taken near the shoreline, 44 from the lake bed up to 1 foot deep, and three, 0- to 4-foot soil samples collected from the delta created by the McLoud Run confluence with Cedar Lake, according to the plan.

Shoreline sediment samples are to be collected the week of Dec. 12. Once enough ice has accumulated so testers can safely bore holes, they plan to draw samples from the Cedar Lake bed, tentatively scheduled for mid-January.

'This sampling plan is a very robust Phase II,” Mel Pins, with the Iowa DNR Brownfield Redevelopment Program, said in an email provided to the Cedar Lake Study Committee, which is made up of representatives of the city, Linn County, Alliant and Friends of Cedar Lake.

The sampling plan was designed primarily as a tool so Cedar Rapids officials can assess liability before taking ownership of the lake, but it also takes into account concepts for reuse, including potentially dredging the lake, Pins said.

Ralph Russell, a Cedar Rapids City Council member and chairman of the Cedar Lake Study Committee, said 87 samples is a sufficient sample size. He said he hopes some samples are in the vicinity of previous samples to indicate whether the sediment has changed. He welcomes new sample locations as well.

A final report could be available in the spring.

If the tests come up clean, Russell said he would recommend the City Council proceed with negotiations to acquire the lake. However, if toxins are discovered, he'd recommend waiting until Alliant cleans up any problems. He added that officials from Alliant have acknowledged the company's responsibility to remediate any contamination it caused and is willing to do so.

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