Onboard a sand dredger.
“Sand is the second most consumed natural resource, after water. The construction-building industry is by far the largest consumer of this finite resource. The traditional building of one average-sized house requires 200 tons of sand; a hospital requires 3,000 tons of sand; each kilometer of highway built requires 30,000 tons of sand… A nuclear plant, a staggering 12 million tons of sand…” Captions and Photograph by © Denis Delestrac
Excerpts;
Competing public interests over the prospect of sand mining off the Vineyard came to the floor during a public discussion hosted by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission late this week…
Selectmen from Oak Bluffs and Chilmark, members of the MVC, Island fishermen and other citizens, attended. Most, but not all, who spoke were opposed to sand mining in Vineyard and Nantucket Sound, as outlined by the state in its draft plan…
Read Full Article, Vineyard Gazette
Sand Wars Come To New England Coast, The Boston Globe (12-21-2013)
Sand is becoming New England coastal dwellers’ most coveted and controversial commodity as they try to fortify beaches against rising seas and severe erosion caused by violent storms…
Sand Wars: U.S. Coastal Towns In The Market For Sand, A CBS News Video (10-09-2013)
Sand, Rarer Than One Thinks: A UNEP report
Sand and gravel are mined world-wide and account for the largest volume of solid material extracted globally. Formed by erosive processes over thousands of years (John, 2009), they are now being extracted at a rate far greater than their renewal. Furthermore, the volume being extracted is having a major impact on rivers, deltas and coastal and marine ecosystems (Figure 1), results in loss of land through river or coastal erosion, lowering of the water table and decreases in the amount of sediment supply. Despite the colossal quantities of sand and gravel being used, our increasing dependence on them and the significant impact that their extraction has on the environment, this issue has been mostly ignored by policy makers and remains largely unknown by the general public.
