Silica mine rekindles fears about Missouri’s Old Lead Belt

Pickle Creek runs two miles through Ste. Genevieve County’s sandstone valleys. It carries some of Missouri’s cleanest water, but residents worry that could change if Nexgen Silica gets full approval to mine sandstone on a 249-acre plot of land along nearby Highway 32.<br /><br />They don’t have to look very far to see the outcome they fear most. <br /><br />Ste. Genevieve sits near Missouri's Old Lead Belt, where mining lasted from the 1700s to 1972 and spanned nearby Washington, Madison and St. Francois counties.<br /><br />The industry produced nine million tons of lead and 250 million tons of hazardous mining waste.<br /><br />Decades later, some residents are still dealing with toxic waste left behind by lead mining.<br /><br />“There is literally a Superfund site sitting in the middle of town that they capped off, but for decades it was just loose, blowing lead everywhere,” said Samantha Danieley, who grew up in Washington County and now lives in St. Francois County. <br /><br />The new mine has nothing to do with lead, but residents fear history could repeat itself. Lead mining and silica mining can both produce invisible dust that can harm a person’s health if swallowed or inhaled once it’s in the air. <br /><br />Brothers Larry and Patrick Kertz are lifelong residents of Ste. Genevieve. They remember riding motorcycles past the hills of mine waste 35 miles from home in the 1970s and 1980s. <br /><br />After living in the shadow of lead mining, Larry Kertz said he wants a better understanding of what will be left when the silica mine is no longer useful. <br /><br />“It could be a big ditch with a huge waste pile of silica sand that could blow out into the area,” he said. “They're not really addressing what's going to be done after the mine is over.”<br /><br />Other residents are worried about how the mine will impact the natural environment. <br /><br />“We want to raise our kids in this beautiful outdoorsy environment with farm life and all these things,” said Jillian Ditch Anslow, a mom to a 14-month-o