Moratorium on Sand Mining in Southeastern Massachusetts
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper, The Select Board of the Town of Plymouth, MA, The Select Board of the Town of Wareham, MA, and The Select Board of the Town of Carver, MA
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Southeastern Massachusetts is ground zero in the sand wars playing out across the globe. A world-wide shortage of “silica sand” has a network of mining interests vying for supplies and markets according to reports from the United Nations Environment Program.
This region of Massachusetts has ever-dwindling supplies that are being strip mined at a frantic pace. There are no environmental studies. This mining industry is unregulated. The trees, sand and gravel are critical to protection of the public's drinking water aquifer but it is being permanently removed and hauled away with no oversight and monitoring.
This sand extraction is regulated only at the local level. Mining companies exploit legal protections for agriculture and subdivisions. Local regulators allow projects that are clear ruses for mining operations.
This mining strips the forests and ancient topsoils, and leaves the land in a condition where nothing can grow again in a human timeframe. Gone is the biodiversity, plants, animal habitat and ancient Native American archeological sites that make this region unique. Residents suffer from emissions of toxic silica sand, noise, dust and vibration.
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To:
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper, The Select Board of the Town of Plymouth, MA, The Select Board of the Town of Wareham, MA, and The Select Board of the Town of Carver, MA
From:
[Your Name]
We request an immediate moratorium on all sand and gravel mining in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Unregulated strip mining is harming drinking water, residents and our communities.
Over 100 active and historic sites have strip mined at least 2,500 acres over about the last 30 years --- with no environmental impact statement or accountability.
1. Water is threatened by contamination. All public and private wells rely on an underground aquifer and interconnected network of streams, ponds and wetlands. Mining is permanently removing the forests and sand and gravel that filter and protect the groundwater.
About 200,000 people rely on the federally designated Plymouth Carver Aquifer is federally protected under the Safe Drinking Water Act because of its vulnerability to contamination.
Mining operations excavate into the groundwater to extract sand and gravel.
Sand and gravel mining exposes the groundwater to contamination from nitrogen and other pollutants. It changes the water flow above and below the ground.
2. People are being harmed. Residents and environmental Justice communities are exposed to emissions of carcinogenic silica sand air pollution. Homes shake from mining extraction, rock crushing, sorting and processing operations, and people suffer from excessive truck traffic and diesel emissions.
3. Biodiversity is being destroyed. The globally rare Pine Barrens forests and state's outstanding biodiversity is being strip mined and hauled away.
4. Indigenous Wampanoag Native American culture and history is being harmed. Lands and archeological sites are being destroyed.
A moratorium is necessary to put a stop to the mining while our state and federal officials assess the damage to date and ensure the protection of our water and communities.