Gravel mining bad for Brunner land

It's disheartening to learn that the Kane County Forest Preserve is even considering turning the recently purchased Brunner land into a gravel/mineral mining operation. Probably the very last environmentally significant parcel left in Northern Kane County, this acreage was purchased with our tax dollars as a natural area for the public to enjoy. Mining would render the property unusable for decades, destroy a critical recharge zone for our water supply, and perpetuate a dangerous precedent - namely that public lands are fair game for pillaging.

Both the shallow aquifers and the deep aquifers in Kane County are being drawn down at unsustainable rates, according to the recently released Kane County/Illinois Geological Survey study: Simulated Groundwater Flow in Kane County and Northeastern Illinois. The Fox River is projected to lose 50 percent of its flow volume by 2049 if we don't reverse the practice of reducing infiltration and pumping from the aquifers. Gravel mining on the Brunner property is directly counter to the recommendations in the study that we guard existing infiltration capacity and increase it wherever possible.

Board members likely see dollars and perhaps future lakes, though not in our lifetime, but there are plenty of nonpublic lands available to mine gravel, and do we really need fishing holes right next to the Fox River? Instead of a beautiful vista and open land, we'll have more displaced wildlife; gravel trucks rumbling on an already congested road; and more air, water and noise pollution. Even with IDNR or EPA oversight, groundwater would not be protected because it's not regulated.

Paula Lauer

East Dundee