Federal officials said there is still no timeline for when the second phase of the dredging project at Tuttle Creek Reservoir will begin.
The project was scheduled to resume March 17, but delayed indefinitely as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contract workers clean up a diesel spill after a fuel cell broke off a barge and became submerged. The fuel cell was recovered late Wednesday evening, but not before spilling a still-undetermined amount of fuel into the lake.
In a statement Friday, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City district chief of public affairs Diana McCoy said releases into the stilling basin restarted on Wednesday to meet water supply requirements in Topeka, ensuring they don’t drop below critical levels. She said the agency is working with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on a plan to test downstream of the tubes at the confluence of the Big Blue and Kansas rivers in addition to testing that occurred in the stilling basin.
