by Matt Ankney
A thriving winery and event center is situated a few miles from NextGen Silica’s upcoming open pit blasting sand mine site near popular Hawn State Park; it depends on a healthy local aquifer for its business model. If the trillion-gallon St. Francois Aquifer, one of the largest underground freshwater reservoirs in the world, happens to be contaminated by the usage of the aquifer by the nearby mine like we have seen in other Midwestern states, the primary ingredient in their product becomes cost-ineffective overnight.
https://pubs.usgs.gov/ha/ha730/ch_d/D-ozark6.html
The miracle of Mother Nature created the aquifer over millions of years; purifying water with only gravity and Lamotte sandstone. This natural underground formation adds value to the winery business. Once aquifers are contaminated by the petrochemicals and toxic industrial solvents associated in sand mining, the damage is permanent.
When the Missouri Department of Natural Resources refuses to perform a robust environmental study of the mine’s impact on the area, they cheat not only residents, park visitors, but also local entrepreneurs.
Mines like these destroy the environment, aquifers, wildlife habitat, local property, quiet solitude of the area, dark skies at night, jobs, and businesses. In nearby Brewer, a similar sand mine operation destroyed the available groundwater as residents were forced to truck in emergency supplies at their own expense when their local underground water table became too low. Are owners of area vineyards that will share the aquifer with a large-scale open pit blasting sand mine aware of the potential groundwater disaster awaiting?
You can find more information about this important issue in the SAVE HAWN! group on Facebook