S 1

S 2

S 3

The foundry industry has evolved into using sand that is typically between 1/8 and 1/2 mm in size.

S 4

For a number of reasons involving mold, core and casting quality, the foundry industry has evolved to use sands with grains that are subangular to subrounded The same processes that round the grains also tend to separate the grains by grain chemistry. Certain minerals erode more easily and don’t survive the transport. Other minerals have different densities and are separated by weight. These processes of winnowing and weathering is what gives the sand in the dunes a high percentage of SILICA content, which is critical to the foundry process.

The original law was passed in 1976. It was to REGULATE the sand dune mining industry in Michigan within certain areas of the state. It did NOT prohibit mining.
In 1984 the governor requested the DNR Director to create a Task Force to see how the Sand Dune Protection & Management Act" was being implemented and to review the local ordinances that were in place. This task force was composed of representatives of eight divisions of the DNR.
The Task Force review lead to the December 1984 amendment which increased the surveillance fee to administer the program.
The 1984 Task Force recommendations also helped lead to the 1989 amendments to the law which created "Critical Dune Areas". These areas were generally ALL of the previously identified Barrier Dune Areas as well as areas that were identified as "exemplary Plant communities". These amendments also protected Critical Dune Areas from NEW mining permits. In large part, these amendments served to place zoning controls on Commercial, Industrial and Residential development that occurs in the coastal dunes of Michigan.
In 1994 the law was amended to incorporate a number of provisions to help assure better site aesthetics, safety and reclamation.
In 1995 the environmental laws of Michigan were compiled into Act 451 – the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA). At that time the "Critical Dune Area" portion of the law was separated out as PART 353 and retained the title of "Sand Dune Protection and Management", which is administered by the DEQ’s Land & Water Management Division. The mining regulation became PART 637 with the title "Sand Dune Mining", and is administered by the DEQ’s Geological Survey Division.

shown here are the areas for SW Michigan

These areas were then identified by legal description and promulgated as RULES under the law (Part 637).

The DESIGNATED SAND DUNE AREA is shown here in green.

With the passage of the 1989 "Critical Dune Area" amendments, these areas were also identified – as shown here in yellow.

Let me clarify that the GSD regulates mining activity within the "Designated Sand Dune Areas." The Critical Dune Areas, where NEW mining permits are prohibited, is a much smaller sub-set of the Designated Sand Dune Areas.

DNR – In addition, the application may be reviewed by some or all these divisions of the DNR.

These reviews are to determine if there could be any adverse impacts on the programs administered and/or resources managed by those divisions.

The GSD conducts inspections to determine the following:
The adequacy and accuracy of the application Documents
The site conditions for permit renewals
To monitor the on going site activities adherence to requirements, and
To monitor compliance efforts

Set back Distances
Buffer areas (isolation)
Fencing and Site Security
Hydrogeological Studies
Protection of Endangered Species

Of these 19 sites:
5 sites have mining completed and are in final stages of reclamation
4 sites are non-industrial sand and residential development sites
10 sites are left as active industrial sites

Of the remaining 11 sites that are inactive:
2 sites have never been commenced
2 sites have been withdrawn
7 sites have been completed, reclaimed & closed

10 were non-industrial operations:
     for small volumes
     for residential development
     in LOW relief dunes and SAND APRON areas

3 were for industrial sand
2 have completed mining and are closing
1 has never commenced
1 was denied: Postma Site

Within these 14 sites Cell-Unit areas contained:

0 acres of Critical Dune Area

There has been a net reduction in the ACTIVE cell-unit acreage due to the gradual reduction of the original sites having a maximum of 3-30 acre cell-units to using 10 acre cell-units and also due to NEW sites having only 10 acre cell-units or less.

The type of deposit will influence many of the physical and chemical attributes of the deposit.
It influences the Deposit Volume & Geometry
The grain size
The grain shape and
The grain chemistry

Waste Materials – how much product will be gleaned from every ton of raw material processed.
Chemical Use – how much and what types of chemicals will need to be used to achieve the desired product.
Energy Use – how much energy will be required for the processing.
Transportation – What type of transportation is available from the site to the market.

While you can easily see the economic implications of these issues, what you may not recognize are the less tangible, but very REAL, environmental impacts.
More waste material means more energy use to process the same volume of finished product.
This means more fuel use and more air pollution
It means more land area may be disturbed.
It means that more water may be required for processing.
Greater use of chemicals for processing of a physically or chemically diverse deposit could pose greater concerns of air and water pollution.
Increased Energy use for processing and/or transport has fuel use and pollution implications.
Increased or different transportation has a direct bearing on energy and fuel use and air pollution concerns.

Review the predicted impacts
Evaluate the relative importance of those impacts, and
Mitigate those impacts when & where possible