Efforts to block store in Decorah fail

Efforts to stop the construction of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Decorah have failed again. The State Environmental Protection Commission has refused to re-hear an appeal of the D-N-R’s issuance of a permit allowing fill dirt on the proposed site. The permit allows Wal-Mart to put the fill dirt in the flood plain of the Upper Iowa River. Local residents claimed the fill dirt would cause their nearby properties to be more susceptible to flooding.