A judge has ruled the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) improperly awarded Meteor Timber permission to destroy wetlands to make way for a sand processing plant in 2017. According to Hastings Tribune: “Judge Eris Defort wrote that the DNR lacked enough information to determine the net positive or negative environmental impact.”
The Atlanta-based company wants to build a $70m plant to process industrial sand near interstate 94 in Monroe County. The report said: “The plans call for destroying 16 acres of wetlands that include a 13-acre swamp of rare white pine and red maples. To make up for filling those wetlands, the company pledged to restore more than 630 acres of other land, including wetlands, near the site.”
Defort noted: “The agency was missing a detailed description of the total number of acres that would be converted to industrial use, information on chemicals that would be introduced in the environment, an invasive species control plan, a detailed vegetation survey and an adequate mitigation plan to make up for the swamp's destruction.”
