Letter to the Editor – Charolette Heimer – 11-20-2013
Dear Editor,
Our community has seen many great things happening recently! Our school has seen WONDERFUL results in test scores placing us #4 in our CESA district! Our beautiful football field and science labs are completed and a source of envy to other schools, and our football team is going to state for the second year in a row!
Glenwood City has so many fantastic reasons to attract new residents! We are a quaint, small town with heart. Neighbors know and invest in each other, unlike larger transient cities. Crisis situations produce an outpouring of support and love when a community member (not just GC but neighboring towns) is experiencing a hardship. Generations of families continue to choose GC for their home investing into our community. It is truly a beautiful place to live! We have so much to offer folks that can not be measured by dollar signs.
People come to GC for many reasons…being an industrial booming town is not one of them. There are many things our city could be doing to promote growth besides approving an industrial sand mine. We need to look before we leap.
Fracking is not just a Glenwood City issue. Entire states are considering memorandums and more restrictive fracking laws:
Ohio, Illinois, Wyoming, North Dakota, New York, Texas, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, Kansas to name a few. Wisconsin has shown little interest in regulating this industry to protect its residents. Doug Losee who over sees environmental regulations for sand mines in Minnesota and Wisconsin compared environmental studies between the two states, “The MN files really take up a bookcase. And for the most part, WI I can fit in a filing cabinet.”
We, Glenwood City should not jump into this industry. Minnesota is even considering several bills including one that enforce a statewide moratorium for a whole year. (Winona Daily News) They, the state of MN, poke fun of not wanting to make the same mistakes that WI did!
The sand is not going anywhere…it will be here in years after more studies have been done! Is any risk to public air and water quality worth the risk to our families? We genuinely care about each other in this town….let’s not change this mentality which makes GC a wonderful place to live. There is no need to rush into this mine. There is every reason to proceed with caution.
Sincerely,
Charlotte Heimer