URGENT ACTION AGAIN NEEDED. The Corps has granted our request for an additional 30 days to submit public comment on the proposed cement kiln, 2000-acre quarry and harbor that Holnam, Inc. (a U.S. subsidiary of a Swiss multi-national corporation) wants to construct in northeastern Ste. Genevieve County along the Mississippi River. The new deadline is JANUARY 6. We now need to write again to let the Corps know in more detail why we are objecting to this proposed project. We have prepared an individual letter (different than the one in last month's newsletter) that you can sign and mail/fax/email to the Corps (all such information is found on the letter), or feel free to write your own. YOUR INDIVIDUAL LETTERS ARE IMPORTANT.

Many organizations are working with WGNSS in this effort, among them the Coalition for the Environment, American Bottom Conservancy, Sierra Club, and the Missouri Native Plant Society, and we are having joint meetings with these other groups. In addition, on December 6, the WGNSS Board unanimously approved the involvement of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Committee of Washington University to represent WGNSS on the Holnam matter. Maxine Lipeles, an attorney and professor at Washington University's School of Law, is the director of the Environmental Clinic, and Judith Coyle is the Clinic's engineer. What this means for WGNSS is that we will have a team of attorneys, engineers, law students and environmental science students helping us gather information about the Holnam project and representing us before the various state and federal agencies that will be involved in the permitting process, such as EPA, Fish & Wildlife Service, and Missouri Department of Natural Resources. We are very grateful to the Clinic for their assistance and look forward to working with them. Their web site is: http://ls.wustl.edu/Clinics/Intenv.

The 4,000 acre tract that Holnam wants to commercialize is a heavily wooded area along the Mississippi River which contains Isle du Bois Creek, many other streams, springs and seeps, wetlands, ravines, hollows and glades, as well as Native American Indian prehistoric sites. Only one gravel road runs through the entire tract - it is a truly unique, almost wilderness, area that lies just 30 miles south of St. Louis. John Karel, now director of Tower Grove Park, included this tract of land in a survey of seven Missouri counties that he undertook in 1975. To quote from John Karel's recent public comment to the Corps: "One of the areas ranking highest in this study for its natural integrity and importance as a natural heritage resource of regional and statewide significance was the wild, steep-sided watershed of Wolf Hollow. Wolf Hollow, consisting of roughly 600 acres, is located entirely within the area that would be affected by the proposed development." According to the map shown to us by the Corps, Wolf Hollow is part of the 2,000 acre proposed quarry.

The site of the proposed cement plant is located within the range of 5 endangered species (Least Tern, Peregrine Falcon, Pallid Sturgeon, Indiana bat and Gray bat) and one threatened species (Bald Eagle). In addition, the habitat is perfect for Cerulean Warbler, a candidate for being classified as Endangered. It is on the Audubon Society's Watch List and WGNSS Vice President Doug Corbett is the St. Louis area liaison for the Cerulean Warbler Atlas Project, sponsored by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Across the Mississippi River from the site is Beagles Island, which has a heronry/rookery. On a site visit on December 3, arranged by Michael Ricketts of the Corps at WGNSS's request, we were able to see the large nests in the trees on Beagles Island. We also saw a Bald Eagle flying past. One-half of Lee Island, which is the floodplain/wetlands below the bluffs, will be dug out to create the harbor. The Mississippi River did not look very wide at this site. Holnam wants to construct a harbor that would hold up to 30 barges and also wants to have up to 87 more barges piled up in the Mississippi River ("in-river fleeting"). It is difficult to imagine the changes to the river that this project would entail, to say nothing of the devastation to the land and the wildlife.

Cement kilns emit air pollutants and, if they burn hazardous waste, they can emit dioxin. Holnam has another plant in Missouri at Clarksville, and that plant does burn hazardous waste. Ken Midkiff (Ozark Chapter, Sierra Club) did a study of Missouri Department of Natural Resources records on the history of air quality violations at Holnam's Clarksville plant. Although Holnam says that there is no present intention to burn hazardous waste at the proposed cement plant in Ste. Genevieve County, their representative did admit that the plant would have the ability to do so. St. Louis has been designated as a non-attainment area by the EPA for many, many years because St. Louis does not meet the EPA's air quality guidelines. The impact of Holnam's proposed cement plant on St. Louis air quality and the public health needs to be thoroughly evaluated. In addition, it could affect other development in our region.

If you would like to read the Public Notice from the Corps of Engineers, go to the St. Louis District's web site at: http://www.mvs.usaec.army.mil/permits. Then click on Open Public Notices and then click on P-2259. Holnam's own web site is: http://www.holnam.com. Holnam is a subsidiary of the Swiss company Holderbank, the largest cement producer in the world. The general contractor is CDK, a Swedish company.

ON THE GOOD NEWS FRONT. Those of you familiar with Horseshoe Lake near Granite City, Ill. have passed Canteen Lake along Hwy. 111 on your way to the main park entrance. Canteen Lake is privately owned and has been up for sale for some time. Recently, American Bottom Conservancy, an environmental organization working in the Metro East area, received a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to purchase Canteen Lake, thereby saving it from possible development or commercialization. Kathy Andria, one of ABC's founders, has asked WGNSS and the Missouri Native Plant Society to assist ABC is surveying the flora and fauna of Canteen Lake.

Contact Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@postnet.com) for the date of the next Conservation Committee meeting and the dates of any joint meetings with other organizations about Holnam.

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