Ouachita National Forest Mine Permit Denied
By Carolyn Shearman, OS Communications Chair In January of 2023 the Pulaski Chapter of the Ozark Society was made aware of a proposed 32-acre Crystal Quartz mine being planned in the Ouachita National Forest within the Lake Winona watershed. Lake Winona is one of the 2 main drinking water sources for Central Arkansas Water (CAW) in the greater Little Rock area and serves about 100,000 of their 500,000 customers. Pulaski Chapter received a draft of the US Forest Service’s Environmental Assessment (EA) on January 22, 2023 that tentatively approved the project pending a 30-day Public Comment period. We, like Central Arkansas Water, strongly opposed the project and felt that several issues in the proposal presented a significant risk to water quality and the habitat of the area and we chose to comment on our concerns. Following that comment period the US Forest Service attempted to modify the proposal so that the risks were mitigated and in July of 2023 resubmitted a revised EA for only CAW and the Ozark Society to comment on since we were the original objectors. Again, both organizations found significant risks remaining in the proposal and resubmitted comments stating our issues. CAW staff even sent [...]