Only 800 Feet
This is only 800 feet . . .
. . . away from this ==>
On April 6th, I hiked the southern section of the Sandstone Cliffs Trail on the St. Croix River east of Grantsburg, Wisconsin. I returned to hike the northern part on the 14th. I was startled when I rounded a bend in the trail and encountered a gravel pit flooded with water of an unnatural blue color. It looked like the pit shared a border with land that is part of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
The trail winds through a mixed, hardwood and conifer forest. The aroma of the pine trees is enticing. The gravel pit - actually a mine for fracking sand - looks otherworldly. The western edge of the pit is only 800 feet from the east bank of the St. Croix. A small stream tributary to the St. Croix runs through the pit.
In 2021, wastewater from the pit leaked into the tributary stream and the St. Croix. I don’t know if there have been subsequent spills or leaks. If it happened once it can happen again. From what I’ve been able to find, the permitting process for the pit was much too casual.
“ . . . often does hatred hurt itself.”
— Gandalf from “The Two Towers” from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of the Rings trilogy