Opponents of sand mining project sue DNR

Plant would destroy rare wetlands

Two environmental groups filed legal challenges against the Department of Natural Resources on Monday over its recent approval of a $65 million sand processing development in western Wisconsin that will require the loss of more than a dozen acres of a rare hardwoods swamp.

The legal actions by Clean Wisconsin and Midwest Environmental Advocates, both in Madison, contend that the DNR acted prematurely when it approved a permit for the project in May without adequate information on the effect construction of a processing plant and rail spur would have on surrounding land.

The DNR approved plans by Meteor Timber on May 19 to build the operation. At the time, regulators imposed numerous conditions designed to limit environmental damage from the project, which would be near I-94 between Tomah and Black River Falls in Monroe County.

The legal actions are the latest in an array of lawsuits and challenges that have been filed against sand mines and processing plants in recent years as the appetite by the oil industry for western Wisconsin sand has grown.

The plants have spurred opposition from some neighbors and communities over congestion and emissions. The plants in some cases have also violated state environmental laws related to their operations.

Meteor Timber is proposing to construct a plant to process sand from a nearby mine that the company owns and would be shipped to drillers in Texas and North Dakota.

The DNR approved plans by the company to destroy 16.25 acres of wetlands, including 13.37 acres of white pine and red maple swamp. The wetland loss would be the largest from any of the sand operations that have sprung up in the past decade, according to the DNR.

A white pine, red maple swamp is considered imperiled by the DNR because there are few remaining sites in Wisconsin.

Officials of the DNR and Meteor both declined to comment because of the litigation.

Meteor, a large private landowner with extensive forest holdings in Wisconsin, has touted the economic benefits of the project.

It also has promised to make up for the wetland loss with other efforts, such as shutting down a cranberry bog on the property and upgrading a stream that runs through the property. The company has said that it would protect more than 640 acres.

Opponents are wary of the claim.

“Meteor Timber’s promise to conserve land or rebuild wetlands isn’t a guaranteed fair trade, especially when these rare wetlands acres and some of the species that live there are threatened or endangered,” said Midwest Environmental Advocates’ Sarah Geers in a statement.

Clean Wisconsin and Midwest Environmental Advocates filed separate petitions to review the case.

Clean Wisconsin is using a process known as a contested case hearing to challenge the case administratively; Midwest Environmental Advocates is filing a challenge in circuit court.

Clean Wisconsin also said it will show that Meteor’s facility will pose adverse impacts on water quality and wetlands in and near the project.