No one doubts the importance of aggregate mining. It is an essential industry that provides us with the materials we need to maintain our infrastructure. However, just because I recognize the importance of mining activities does not mean that I will throw away my values and allow questionable companies to pollute our communities, destroy our forests and undermine the ability of local officials to make decisions on behalf of the people who to do, to undermine. elected them.
We only have to look at our friends in Metamora Township to see how real the threat is. The latest joint plan would paralyze any local opposition to a proposed 496 hectare gravel mining operation, which would destroy more than 400 hectares of forest. The project would also sit directly above a toxic mixture of hazardous gases that, if broken, would further endanger public health and nearby waterways.
One of the most important factors a local municipality must consider when deciding whether to approve or deny a joint operation is whether the project will have “very serious consequences” for a community. I don’t see how cutting down nearly 1,000 acres of trees, the risk of toxic gases, or another devastating water pollution crisis in the Flint River will not lead to very serious consequences for the greater Metamora community. Fortunately, that’s an argument that opponents of the mining operation have successfully made twice and are preparing to do so a third time.
They have operated within our current system. They went to court, won and successfully protected their community from significant risks to their local environment. That’s the way the process should work. That’s the way local control is supposed to work. These community activists learned of a project that posed a significant risk to their community, so they called their local elected leaders and expressed their concerns. Any ability to question future projects would disappear with the passage of these bills – regardless of previous court rulings.
I guarantee you that whoever would be making these decisions if this plan is approved would not be a phone call away, and they certainly won’t be attending your church or working at a local business. The people who make the decisions about the health and well-being of our communities will be wearing suits in a stuffy office building in Lansing. We’re lucky if they’ve ever even heard of places like Metamora, let alone seen firsthand the communities they impact.
We must let local communities make decisions to protect the local environment and their residents. These bills are a Christmas gift that no one asked for. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can come together and realize that local governments are best placed to decide what coal gets mined and what goes into storage.
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