Grassroots Movement Pushes for Sand Mine Moratorium in City of Sparta

Two Monroe County townships have said "whoa!" to sand mine development and have passed moratoriums on sand mines. The problem for both of these townships, the town of Angelo and the town of the Sparta, is that they are adjacent to the city of Sparta, which has swiftly annexed land adjacent to the city and in one instance, approved the development of one major sand mine. Sand mine companies continue to put out feelers to buy other property adjacent to the city.

Now there's a movement in the city of Sparta to declare a moratorium on sand mining, as the towns of Sparta and Angelo have done and as the city of Winona, Minn., has also done. The town of Angel's moratorium lays out the rationale for a moratorium. It cites concerns about the impact of sand mining on local infrastructure, on property values (property owners trying to sell homes near the Tunnel City sand mine have had no prospective buyers look at their homes) and on health. The idea: to find out what all a sand mine entails and to decided whether or not to allow sand mining and what regulations to enact if the town decides to allow sand mining. To read the moratorium, a possible model for the city of Sparta, should it choose to pass such a moratorium, click here.

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Town of Angelo Passes Six-Month Sand Mine Moratorium

The Angelo town board passed a six-month moratorium on sand mines this morning. The township will create a committee of townspeople to carefully study the process of sand mining and what legal controls are available to the township. "It gives us six months to consider what actions might be taken in order to protect the people, so to speak, in the town," said Tom Leverich, town chair. About 25 people attended the meeting in the town hall. The board called for a show of hands for all those who supported a moratorium and all but two people raised their hands. It goes into effect upon publication and has been submitted to the Sparta Herald.

Skip Frazee photo

Town of Sparta Poised to Pass Sandmining Moratorium

The town of Sparta voted last night to hold a hearing March 6 on whether or not to pass a sand mining moratorium in the township. The approximately 50 people attending the meeting of the board of supervisors overwhelmingly voiced support for a moratorium. Late last year, the city of Sparta annexed a farm in the town of Sparta to speed approval of a sand mine that U.S. Silica will build and operate.

Howard Garves, town chair, said that at the March 6 meeting, the board will discuss the length of a moratorium. It could be four months, six months or a year. The town wants a moratorium to give it time to create a town of Sparta ordinance to govern sand mining in the town.

“It is not a zoning ordinance,” he said.

At last night’s meeting the board invited the public to give its views on a moratorium.

“They overwhelmingly said that they want a moratorium,” Garves said. “Our intention is the have the hearing and if it is the wish o the people at that time, based again on the hearing, then we will adopt it"

Those at the meeting also discussed reports of other sales of property in the town of Sparta to sand mines. These properties are near the U.S. Silica site, which used to be in the town of Sparta. The city of Sparta annexed the land at the request of the property owners to simplify the approval process for the sand mine. Jeff Jahn, mine planning and development manager for U.S. Silica, said that U.S. Silica is not the sand mine company that is trying to buy the properties that are either being sold or have options to sell on them.

Town of Angelo to Discuss Sand Mine Moratorium in Special Meeting Friday Morning

The town board of Angelo is holding a special meeting at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, to discuss a sand mine moratorium and regulating sand mines.

The board discussed sand mines at its regular monthly meeting Feb. 14. At that meeting, one resident of the township expressed concerns about the sand mine and, according to the minutes of the meeting, town board supervisor Steve Treu said he would support a moratorium on sand mining in the township to allow the board to develop some procedures or licensing to protect the township and its residents. The board then had the town attorney draft a resolution for the special meeting, which will be held Friday.

All three board supervisors attended a day-long meeting about sand mining held by the Wisconsin Towns Association late last year. The other supervisors are Tom Leverich, chair, and Warren Kastberg. Mary Carlisle is the town clerk and treasurer.

An official notice of the meeting is running in the Monroe County Democrat on Thursday, Feb. 23. On the agenda: "Discussion and possible action on the town of Angelo ordinance to impose a moratorium on the expansion of existing and creation of new non-metallic operations within the town of Angelo pending the study of possible legislative action."

Proposed Sand Mine Site Next to Sparta Municipal Golf Course

Click on the link below to read more about land a sand mine is trying to buy in the town of Angelo.


The area outlined in red is land a sand mine is seeking to buy. It is immediately adjacent to the municipal golf course (if you look closely, you can see the greens). It straddles the LaCrosse River and drains into Perch Lake. It's immediately across from Memorial Park, the football field, softball fields and the municipal swimming pool. This image is from the Monroe County website, www.co.monroe.wi.us .

Sparta City Council Okays Sand Mine Permit

The Sparta City Council voted six to two last night to deny all appeals and okayed a conditional use permit for the mine.  It voted to approve a conditional use permit for the mine, despite several appeals to delay approval in order to learn more about the sand mine and its impact on health and other concerns. Another pointed to precedents set by other municipalities in the area with sand mines. These municipalities have charged sand mines fees or gotten property value guarantees from sand mines.

Five people had filed appeals against the city planning commission's approval of the mine. One appeal pointed to the agreement the town of Greenfield negotiated with the sand mine going in near Tunnel City. The town will collect 15 cents per ton annually, amounting to an estimated $250,000 each year, as a precedent Sparta could follow. Others expressed concern about depreciating property values and gave the board copies of an agreement including such provisions that the town of Howard in nearby Chippewa County made with a sand mine there.

The two council members who voted in favor of the appeal were Connie Anderson and Ed Lukasek. Those voting to deny the appeal were Ron Button, Jim Church, Carlos Holcomb, Norman Stanek, Dan Hellman and Kevin Riley.  Click here to read the Monroe County Democrat's coverage of that meeting. One note: there is an error in both the head line and story. Tony Angelini was not ejected from the meeting.

Sand Mines Neighbors Complain About Noise, Dirt and Inescapable Dust

Everyone who lives near a sand mine in La Salle County, where several sand mines are located, including one of U.S. Silica's, complains about noises from machinery, blasting, and worst of all, silica dust, which invades homes, cars and nearby properties, not to mention your lungs.

That's according to Kevin Caulfield a reporter for the News Tribune, which covers north central Illinois. Caulfield, who is pro-sand mine, has been covering the sand mines in La Salle County for eight years. "I've even seen it with my own eyes," says Caulfield, who supports sand mines. "These are dirty operations that make life difficult for those living nearby."

Sand mines don't try to be dirty. They work hard to maintain clean operations, says Caulfield. But the nature of sand makes that nearly impossible.

"I've found in talking to mining operators that it is their intention to do everything possible to be good neighbors, and they certainly try," says Caulfield. "But frankly, we're talking about a mine. No one wants to live next to them and no one will buy residential property next to one."

A thousand people in La Salle County signed a petition opposing a new sand mine proposed for next to Starved Rock State Park.

"The reason there are so many protesters is because everyone knows someone who has lived next to a mine," says Caulfield.

Caulfield supports sand mines, as long as they're in rural areas. To have one next to a densely populated area, he says, "sounds insane."