The city of Duluth and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers are urging caution for anyone using Park Point beach between the shipping canal on the lakeside to 13th Street South as pieces of shredded aluminum cans have been found. The cans are believed to have been inadvertently deposited when dredge materials were placed on the far north beach section this past fall. Dredge material was placed on the beach after the Park Point Community Club and Park Point residents approached the city and other partners with shoreline erosion concerns exacerbated by high water levels.

Minnesota Public Radio: “Neighbors make surprise discovery in Duluth beach restoration: Shreds of vintage cans”

Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Duluth dredging project dumped 1970s metal shards on Park Point beach”

Duluth News Tribune: “City of Duluth urges caution after sharp debris collected from Park Point Beach”

The USACE issued a release stating:

Corps of Engineer officials take the situation very seriously and are developing a plan to mitigate the likelihood of encountering debris or placing debris fragments in the future.

The Park Point Community Club and High-Water Committee issued the following statement regarding the cleanup:

The Park Point Community Club is encouraged by the USACE’s ownership of this unfortunate situation and their commitment to improving sediment testing and methodology designed to prevent similar situations in the future.

The club’s Erosion and High-Water Committee sought guidance and support from city leadership in 2019 to address the erosion of the very busy beach from south of the shipping canal to 13th Street. The city’s collaboration and planning with the USACE led to the completion of the 2020 beach restoration project.

The shredded cans and metal shards were first noted by neighbors in October 2020.