South Maury Island Environmental Issues - Mining Expansion Via Barges On Maury Island

Mining Expansion Via Barges On Maury Island

Glacier Northwest plans mainly on using barges, supported and supplemented by a new dock system - which they have yet to gain permission to construct (Preserve Our Islands, April 26) - to transport the mined aggregate off the island. The company asserts that their reasons for using barge transportation are based on environmental and economic principles, including avoiding the costs and environmental effects of constructing main roads on which the aggregate would be transported. The economic viability of this strategy is clear; one barge of aggregate is equal to approximately 115 trucks (Ron Summers, April 25), but both the use of the barge and construction of a new dock have other consequences as well (see below). Glacier Northwest is hoping to mine and remove 85 million tons of sand and gravel from the island using the barges, which could result in the loss of 8% of the island's land mass, leading to serious effects on the islands near shore habitats, water supply, and the chemical composition of the soil.