HUGE EXPANSION PLANNED
The threat of expanding sand mining in the Critical Dune Areas of Hagar and Covert Townships has brought together concerned residents and property owners in Berrien and Van Buren Counties. Residents of Hagar Township have placed a temporary injunction against their township to prevent revision of zoning regulations to permit mining on land currently zoned agricultural and residential. The proposal of the sand mining company (Technisand) to expand mining in Hagar Township will enlarge existing mines and industrialize surrounding areas in both townships. Furthermore, they plan to bring sand from this and other mines to the Nadeau Pit/Covert for processing. This will create even more noise and truck traffic, and threatens to lower the water table and pollute air, water and soil with toxic chemicals.
This first issue of our newsletter provides background information regarding these complex and interrelated issues and events.
LAY OF THE LAND
Nadeau Pit (A) is the sand mine across the Blue Star Highway from Fire Drives 14 through 18. It has been active for nearly 20 years. A large lake has been created from mining below the water table. The water is also used to slurry sand to the washing equipment and for washing sand. The sand dune mining permit was extended for 5 years as of January 1, 1996 by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Geological Survey Division (MDEQ/GSD). It is, or should be, permitted by Covert Township on an annual basis.
Nadeau Site (B) is a mine that has not been active for a number of years. However, its permit has been maintained during the hiatus. It was last extended for 5 years as of January 1, 1996.
Nadeau Site, Taube Road Extension(C) This land was purchased by Technisand in 1988. MDEQ/GSD has issued an amendment to the permit for the Nadeau Site to mine this area, producing an estimated 8,000,000 tons of sand. However, a mining permit has not been issued by Hagar Township. It is against the township's zoning ordinance to mine in an agricultural or residential zone. The Circuit Court has issued a temporary injunction that forbids the township issuing the permit or rezoning the property.
The permit application indicates that Technisand (TS) will truck sand from this site to the Nadeau Pit (A) for washing. Fifty-five (55) truck round trips per day will be needed to meet the proposed production schedule. Trucks to ship the sand will add 55 more round trips bringing the total to 220 truck movements on the Blue Star Highway between Nadeau Pit and Exit 7. That is a truck every 2 minutes. If this is permitted, then sand from other sites, such as the Busse Property at Exit 13 and the Garlanger Property near Pallisades Nuclear Plant, could be brought to Nadeau Pit for processing - extending truck traffic for 10 miles on the Blue Star Highway.
Technisand Parcel (D): Currently we know of no sand dune mining permits issued for this site. However, since it is now adjacent to a permitted site ("C") if it were owned by TS prior to 1989, it would be eligible for mining through an amendment to the new permit. Numerous sources, including Douglas Daniels of the Plainwell office of MDEQ/GSD, have stated that TS actually plans to slurry the sand via a pipe under I-196 to the sand washing equipment at the Nadeau Pit.
SAND DUNE MINING & MDEQ/GSD
The regulations that MDEQ has promulgated for sand dune mining restrict sites to ones that were in operation before July 5, 1989 and to those that are adjacent to mines in operation prior to July 5, 1989 and on land owned or on land for which the mineral rights were owned by the mining company prior to July 5, 1989. While this eliminated the development of entirely new sand dune mines, it resulted in mining companies obtaining permits for most land that they owned prior to that date or purchasing land adjacent to existing sites. As a result, today we see larger mines on fewer sites. Unfortunately, three are in Covert and one is in Hagar.
The regulations prescribe procedures and submittals required for a permit or permit extension. (The maximum length of a permit is 5 years.) Submittals include an environmental impact statement (a hydrogeological survey may be required if mining is proposed below the water table), a fifteen year mining plan, and a progressive cell unit mining and reclamation plan. The regulations specify that:
· A cell can be no larger than 10 acres.
· Only 3 cells can be active (being mined or used for mining activities) simultaneously.
· After a cell has been revegetated, it is classified as an interim cell for one year to ensure that plants survive. If they do, the cell is then classified as reclaimed. No more than 3 cells can be interim cells simultaneously.
Revegetation must be completed in accordance with the cell unit mining and reclamation plan. The regulations only require that the plants be native. Slopes can be no steeper than 1:3. Submerged grades of water bodies larger than 5 acres can be no steeper than 1:6 to a depth of 6 ft. A 200 ft. set back from property lines to the cell unit boundary must be maintained, unless the mining activity is compatible with adjacent existing land use. It appears that a number of these conditions have not been met, but accepted by MDEQ/GSD.
We requested copies of permit applications for "A" and "C" under the Freedom of Information Act. These have now been received and are being reviewed. We will be covering the relevant issues in a future newsletter.
Finally "The department shall deny a sand dune mining permit if, upon review of the environmental impact statement, it determines that the proposed sand dune mining activity is likely to pollute, impair, or destroy air, water or other natural resources or the public trust in those resources, ..."
Those who have fought the sand mining companies caution that MDEQ employees are not watchdogs but "enablers" for industry. Their jobs depend on the mining of the sand dunes.
SAND MINING & HAGAR TOWNSHIP
The zoning ordinance of Hagar does not permit sand mining in residential or agricultural districts. This provision and the current zoning of "C" predates TS's purchase of the land. The township supervisor is sympathetic with the mining company and prior to the injunction was looking for ways to issue a permit for the site.
SAND MINING & COVERT TOWNSHIP
The zoning ordinance of Covert allows sand mining in residential (R-1 and R-2) and agricultural districts. Site "A" is in an R-1 (Single Family Homes) district and Site "D" is in an agricultural district.
It would appear that the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) ordinance would prohibit mining in the areas covered. Area "A" is in an ESA but "D" is not.
The zoning regulations governing setbacks and conformance bond amounts are less restrictive than MDEQ/GSD's. However, the township has a number of more stringent and more specific requirements that do not appear to have been met.
1. "All topsoil shall be removed and stockpiled on the site and following excavation operations shall be spread over the effected area . . . . . . and the property restored so as to present as nearly as possible, except for contour, its natural state before the sand removal was begun." and "Failure to comply with the reclamation and maintenance of the land as herein above provided within a reasonable period of time, and after written notice to the owner, shall result in the revocation of the owner's permit to continue the removal of sand or other soil resources in the Township of Covert."
2. Slopes cannot exceed 1:5 within one year of the start of excavation unless extended by the Township Board.
3. All operations, excavation, equipment and stockpiles shall be reasonably screened from view from adjacent residences and streets by well maintained fences, trees and shrubs or berms.
4. Fencing is required (equivalent to 6 foot high chain link fence) when water is deeper than one foot for a month or longer.
5. Operations may be limited to the time between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM.
6. All private access roads must be treated to create a dust-free surface for a distance of three hundred (300) feet from any public access road.
Very important to our concerns is that the zoning ordinance states "No natural resource extracted outside the limits of the property in question shall be brought in for washing, grading or further processing, except in the event of a public emergency as declared by the Township Board of Covert Township requiring use of said natural resource."
The township supervisor is clearly sympathetic to the mining company. Mining on the Busse property near exit 13 on I-196 was initiated without a permit from the township. Sometime later the Zoning Commission issued a permit. During the meeting one member is reported to have said that he could not understand why they were rewarding the company for breaking the law.
Despite claims that the "real estate taxes of the sand mines, the power plant and the lake shore property owners support the township" the mining company pays a mere $8,056.52 per year in property taxes for 19 parcels in Covert Township. They make a profit of $1.00 per ton of sand. The Nadeau Pit has probably yielded well over $10,000,000 in profit.
CONCERNS
There are several urgent concerns. The most immediate regard property values and quality of life. The mining activity, the noise and dust, and truck traffic conflict with the residential activities surrounding the mines, and create health and safety problems. The use of ground water for slurrying and washing the sand threatens our source of water, especially those across the Blue Star Highway from the Nadeau Pit. Without a safe and continuous source of potable water, homes become uninhabitable and of little economic value.
If Technisand is permitted to wash sand from the Taube Road Extension at the Nadeau Pit, then other processing would be allowed - such as the coating process now done at the Livingston Road plant in Bridgman. This process produces emissions of phenols and formaldehyde into the air (over 14,000 pounds per year). From there these toxic chemicals can go to our lungs, the ground and water. Phenols are known carcinogens.
We all have homes in this area, in large part, because we value the natural setting. Our environment has the natural beauty and significance found in national parks. This is not a local view. The MDEQ, itself, has determined that all of these mines are in critical dune areas. Mining destroys this unique environment. Even with an effective and extensive reclamation program, the land will not return to its natural state for well over a hundred years. And of course, the topography will be totally different - it has already been changed.
As discussed above, the mining companies rape the land, take huge profits and give nothing back. At most, they will offer the token of the barren land sold for exploitation by others.
The mines represent a hazard to the safety of children who may easily enter the site.
Past performance of the township governments indicate that they are unlikely to enforce existing laws, ordinances and regulations. More probably they will bend them or ignore them so that the objectives of the mining companies can be achieved.
PROPOSED OBJECTIVES
In response to these concerns and events documented above, we propose the following objectives:
1. Ensure that the zoning ordinance of Hagar Township is enforced with regard to mining in residential and agricultural districts; and that the Site "C" is not rezoned.
2. Ensure that the mining regulations in the zoning ordinance of Covert Township are enforced: Nadeau Pit must not become a processing site for sand from other sites. Requirements for reclamation, screening, hours of operations and slopes must be met.
3. Ensure that the Environmentally Sensitive Areas ordinance of Covert Township is enforced with respect to sites proposed for sand mining.
4. Protect the water supply of homes adjacent to the Nadeau Pit.
5. Preserve the last dune south of Rogers Creek, a designated Trout Stream and ensure that Rogers Creek is not silted up by sand, eroded or blown from Nadeau Pit.
6. Prevent further permit extensions (beyond 2001) for the Nadeau Pit.
7. Stop all sand dune mining in Michigan and preserve the critical dune areas.
NEXT STEPS
Numerous environmental activists, attorneys and scientists have been contacted. They all agree that it is easiest to control sand dune mining at the local level through enforcement of zoning ordinances. We have retained an attorney to assist in pursuing our goals at the local level. We are assembling information that will be needed by the attorney, e.g. zoning regulations, mining permits, MDEQ/GSD regulations, known violations, an engineering analysis. We have become an affiliate of West Michigan Environmental Action Council. We are trying to keep everyone informed so we will be a unified, broadly based force for preserving this unique natural environment in western Michigan.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Complete and return the enclosed Response Form indicating your interest in protecting the dunes. Use the form to become a member of Preserve the Dunes. (Membership dues will defray the cost of newsletters and mailings to keep you abreast of what is happening.) Make a financial contribution to support these efforts. Be prepared to attend public hearings. Let others know about these issues and about Preserve the Dunes. Come to board meetings. Members receive the schedule of upcoming meetings and events.
