Despite setback for Missouri silica sand mine, the fight isn’t over for neighbors

NexGen has proposed mining silica sand in Ste. Genevieve County on about 250 acres near Hawn State Park. But Missouri didn’t conduct any sort of review of the potential environmental or public health impacts of the mine before issuing a land reclamation permit last year.
Missouri regulators handed a setback to a proposed silica sand mine south of St. Louis earlier this month when they revoked a pivotal permit. But the fight isn’t over for opponents of the mine.

While state regulators denied one permit to NexGen, the would-be owners of the proposed mine, they almost simultaneously granted the company a wastewater permit for the site. And even the Missouri Mining Commission’s decision to revoke the first permit wasn’t as decisive as opponents hoped.