By Joyce Blumenshine

URGENT!  DEADLINE November 4th. Email or write your request for a public hearing.

The U.S. Silica Company sand mining quarry four miles east of Ottawa wants to expand toward Starved Rock State Park!  This is a for-profit, Texas based corporation and has nothing to do with the U.S. government. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering approval of a wetland destruction permit for the quarry expansion. Most of this sand is used for fracking (high pressure extraction of oil or gas using a cocktail of chemicals and high-quality sand to force more gas or oil out of the ground).

Please send your request for a public hearing and add your comments of concern and opposition to the permit no later than November 4th to email  wendy.m.frohlich@usace.army.mil or by mail to arrive by Nov. 4th to:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Rock Island District
ATTN: RD-E
Clock Tower Building, P.O. Box 2004
Rock Island, IL  61204-2004

BE SURE TO HAVE:  Request for Public Hearing and Comment CEMVR-RD-2022-1270 in you email subject line and on your comments. Key concerns include: this expansion will destroy wetlands at the site and impact Brown’s Brook and another tributary stream which will increase sediment and other pollutant loading to the Illinois River; there are clear concerns for groundwater and surface water adverse impacts including harm to wetlands at Catlin LaSalle County Park which has the Catlin Salt Marsh to the immediate south and to the rare wetland Ernat’s Marsh to the west. Both these sites are top-rated Illinois Natural Areas Inventory listed wetlands of importance to the state.

Ninety percent of the wetlands in Illinois have been destroyed. The Army Corps should hold a public hearing to hear local details of the importance of these sites and consider the full economic values of these parks in contrast to the one-time taking of sand leaving a large quarry which will remain a hazard for generations to come and render the current agriculture land at the quarry gone forever. 

See pages 5, 6 and 7 for location mapping in the Army Corps Public Notice CEMVR-RD-2022-1270. For more information contact Joyce Blumenshine at  joblumen@yahoo.com or 309-678-1011.

See From Farmland to Frac Sand for views of sand mining quarries and discussion on loss of farmland.