Starved Rock State Park and local communities threatened by Illinois sand rush
The rush for sand to fuel fracking is on, and Illinois has a lot of it. In the fracking process, silica sand is mixed with chemicals and injected underground to break apart rocks and unleash trapped oil and gas. Mississippi Sand, LLC wants to mine vast quantities of sand just outside Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County.
A sand mine may sound harmless, but sand mining can pollute local streams, destroy wetlands, damage air quality, create horrible dust problems, and be extremely noisy.
Since we learned of Mississippi Sand’s proposal, Prairie Rivers Network and our partners have been working with residents to protect the park and adjacent lands from the harms of sand mining. Despite repeat efforts to work with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Environmental Protection Agency to better protect the park, both agencies granted Mississippi Sand, LLC permits that threaten the health of nearby streams and wetlands as well as clean air and tranquility in the park and surrounding communities.
Prairie Rivers Network, Sierra Club, and Openlands sued IDNR over the mining permit, but our case was dismissed when the Sangamon County judge ruled our groups did not have a legal right to challenge IDNR’s bad decision. We have appealed the judge’s dismissal to a higher court.
While opposing the permits, we urged the county to take action to protect its lands. A LaSalle County moratorium on new sand mines was a welcome victory, but mining companies are scrambling to annex their land into local villages in order to avoid the moratorium. This leaves county residents with no say over what happens on adjoining lands and in the unlucky position of choosing between selling their lands to mining interests, or being surrounded by massive sand mines. See this Chicago Tribune article about how frac sand mining is driving farmers off their land (PDF).
We have also been working with LaSalle County to improve the county’s Comprehensive Plan (link takes a minute to load) in order to protect ecologically significant land and water from unfettered mining and development. While the County has been very receptive to our suggestions, directly incorporating many of them into the update, progress will be bittersweet. Should the county board vote to update the plan next month, the moratorium on new mining will be lifted.
We know the economies of many Illinois communities could use a boost. Yet LaSalle County’s economy has for many years, been fueled by tourism. Sand mining near Starved Rock State Park threatens this economic driver. We needn’t destroy our most treasured places for short term gains. If we’re going to mine sand, let’s not do it in our most ecologically sensitive places.
