Judge invalidates western Wisconsin sand mine permits
I think the WI DNR was still run by Cathy Strepp when this decision was made (could be wrong)===who now is appointed by Trump to run some Great Lakes progect
. Anyway, wetlands saved for now thanks to the environmental groups
Judge invalidates western Wisconsin sand mine permits
https://www.apnews.com/f92402c180bc462b864b3d9aac74198f
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin environmental regulators improperly gave a Georgia company permission last year to destroy wetlands to make way for a sand processing plant, a judge ruled Friday.
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The Department of Natural Resources awarded the company permits for the project last year, triggering a challenge from environmental group Clean Wisconsin and the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Administrative Law Judge Eric Defort invalidated the permits Friday. Defort wrote that the DNR lacked enough information to determine the net positive or negative environmental impact.
The agency was missing a detailed description of the total number of acres that would be converted to industrial use, information on chemicals that would be introduced in the environment, an invasive species control plan, a detailed vegetation survey and an adequate mitigation plan to make up for the swamp’s destruction, Defort noted.
“Without an ‘adequate’ mitigation plan in combination with the permanent and irreversible destruction of the rare and exceptionally high-quality wetlands in this case, the proposed project will most certainly result in significant adverse impacts to wetland functional values because it will not compensate for the loss,” the judge wrote.
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Asked if the company would appeal, Meteor Timber attorney John Behling said only that the company was “evaluating its options to continue moving the project forward.”
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https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/mines/ismmap.html
Locations of industrial sand mines and processing plants in Wisconsin
Industrial sand for use in the petroleum industry has been produced in Wisconsin for over 40 years. However, the demand for industrial sand has increased exponentially in the past few years. Wisconsin has mining, processing and transportation facilities associated with industrial sand. Some facilities have a combination of these activities.
Current site totals and spreadsheet
Current mining operations are primarily located in West Central Wisconsin, but there are also facilities in Burnett, Green Lake, Outagamie and Waupaca Counties. The following table and the interactive map contain information that is current as of May 23, 2016.
Total Number of Industrial Sand Facilities (Mines, Processing & Rail Loading) 128
Number of Active Facilities 92
Number of Inactive Facilities 32
Number of Facilities Reclaimed/In Process of Final Reclamation 4
Download
a spreadsheet with information about sand mining facilities in Wisconsin [XLSX].
Interactive map
This interactive map shows information about both active and inactive industrial sand mines and processing plants in Wisconsin, as well as facilities that have been reclaimed or are in the process of final reclamation. It also shows locations of rail and transportation sites. Due to the complicated ownership of some parcels, the map identifies the mining site operator rather than the property owner. This format provides a single point of contact with the mining companies responsible for the operations.
To view information on a site, click on a pinpoint. You may need to zoom in on the map to differentiate between pinpoints.
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