April Wamhoff

While I do applaud Traci Marc and Fermilab for its eventual disclosure of some of the foggy mystery over the neutrino collector set to be deployed in Lake Vermilion, it seems curious that this has only happened since the story appeared in the Timberjay. Seems they may have been caught with their swim pants down. And some questions remain and some new ones have certainly surfaced.
The first concern, and abundantly so, the shear size of this thing: you have got to be kidding! When the thing is assembled, it will be, at a bare minimum and depending on how these MUMs attach to each other, 22.5 feet wide by 10.5 feet high by 100 feet long! When did Lake Vermilion become a parking lot for these things? An average pick-up is roughly 20ft x 7ft x 6.5ft. You could park, and easily with room to open the doors, 10 pick-up trucks in that space.
There seems to be some continuing discrepancy as to where this thing is actually going to be deployed and how deep the water needs to be. At first, before Traci Marc cleared up the whole murky story, it appeared destined to be deployed in a big deep crevice somewhere near Preachers Island. Now, supposedly it will float, attached to cement pillars, in 35 feet of water. Has anyone ever been out trolling cranks, deep, in say 20 feet of water? Now you can catch a new invasive species called a MUM. Don’t worry though, it may or may not be marked with hazard bouys.
The issue of the commercial structure to be used for the base of operations still exists.  The residential status of the island prohibits such a structure.
And here’s another thing, absolutely no environmental assessment has been done. Can you honestly say there will be no, or even minimal impact, happening? Even on a temporary basis?  Of course, you can’t because no study has been done.
And speaking of temporary, when will this thing be removed and what does that exit plan look like? Is there any plan for fixing potential damage it causes?
As a side bar, while it seems very little money has come into the area as a result of this project (the research building was built off-site and will be hauled here) presumably a local barge is, or will be hired to dump this. Please, turn down the job. You guys are the very best of Lake Vermilion businesses for us Islanders. You’ve bailed me out of more sticky spots than I care to mention and I am grateful. I watched you go by with those stranded cars in the high water. And you’re cool- like modern cowboys. It’s me, in the little red boat, with the dogs, waving like an idiot. I understand finances and business and all, but maybe you could pack it up early this year.
I don’t reject the need for research.  It seems this project has been pushed along, presumably due to the impending decommissioning of the accelerator, with no consideration for the environment on this end. And the end results or the potential worth of this research seem vague and very far off.
It’s after Labor Day now and lots of our friends and neighbors have left the area for the season. There’s fewer of us to defend Lake Vermilion. Without a lot more clear, concise, and reasonably researched study into this project, it should not be here.