Conservation Committee Reports
PROPOSED CEMENT PLANT. WGNSS has joined three other local organizations in appealing the issuance of a 404 permit to Holcim by the Corps of Engineers. By issuing the permit, the Corps was at the same time signaling its refusal to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, a large-scale study of direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of the proposed cement plant industrial complex on wildlife, wetlands, water quality and air quality. If the Corps believes that an EIS is not needed for a project of such gigantic proportions as this proposed project, then it is difficult – perhaps impossible - to imagine when an EIS would ever be required under the governing law known as NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act). Among those government agencies, public officials and national environmental organizations that have over the last 3 years asked the Corps to conduct the in-depth environmental study are: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Missouri Dept. of Conservation, Governor Bob Holden, Congressman Lacy Clay (MO), Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, Missouri Parks Association, and more. WGNSS is also challenging a mining permit requested by Holcim from the Mo. Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) department known as Land Reclamation. Joining WGNSS on these matters are the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club, and American Bottom Conservancy in the Metro East, IL area. We are represented by the Environmental Law Clinic of the Washington University School of Law. For more information on the three-year history of this proposed cement plant, quarry and harbor, consult our web site at www.wgnss.org and look under “Conservation Reports.”.
PESTICIDE SPRAYING STOPS IN UNIVERSITY CITY. In June, the City Council of University City voted to stop pesticide spraying as a tool to control mosquitoes. University City has a very strong ordinance prohibiting standing water where mosquitoes breed (“source reduction”). Source reduction, larvaciding and public education and awareness – collectively called Integrated Pest Management - are the most efficient and least costly methods of mosquito control. Pesticide spraying is the least efficient method yet poses dangers to public health, birds, beneficial insects and other wildlife. The chemical sprayed in St. Louis County, permethrin, is a neurotoxin and can trigger asthma attacks. At the time this article is written in early August, no human cases of West Nile Virus have been reported in the St. Louis area, yet the health departments of St. Louis County, the City of St. Louis and other counties and municipalities began spraying on a regular basis in early summer. Mosquitoes develop resistance to these pesticides and spraying can kill other mosquito predators such as birds and large insects.
ST. JOHN’S BAYOU/NEW MADRID FLOODWAY. The Missouri DNR did
a flip-flop on this controversial proposed project to dry out many thousands
of acres of Mississippi River flood plain and wetlands in the Bootheel to convert
that land into agricultural cropland. Initially denying the 401 certification
for this project, the DNR quickly reversed course after an appeal by the Corps
of Engineers and gave the Corps its 401 certification. Environmental Defense
and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment have filed a legal challenge
to the DNR’s decision. At stake are thousands of acres of flood plain and wetlands
that are still connected to the Mississippi River and thus subject to its seasonal
flooding, and the incredible diversity of fish, amphibians, birds and other
wildlife that inhabit this area. If the project proceeds, the flood plain and
wetlands will be cut off from the river. Big Oak Tree State Park, an island
remnant of the vast bottomland forest that once grew in that area, would be
impacted by the project.