Editorial: Slow down on Starved Rock vote

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Updated: February 13, 2012 9:19AM

Just ask the bald eagles who congregate there about this time every year: Starved Rock State Park is a jewel of Illinois.

But conservationists worry the park could be damaged by a proposed sand mine just outside the park’s east gates.

Although the La Salle County Board is scheduled to vote today on whether to allow the sand mine, Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon has asked the board to delay its vote so that concerns about the mine’s impact on Starved Rock can be investigated. The board should do so.

Critics claim the mine would endanger a park wetland, threaten the watershed of Horseshoe Creek, which feeds into the park, and bring dynamiting and heavy truck traffic to the site.

Are the critics overreacting? Or are they right? Let’s find out.