By AP/KWMU
Sainte Genevieve, MO – The Army Corps of Engineers says it will issue a needed permit to Holcim Inc., as another step towards building the nation's largest cement plant in Ste. Genevieve County.
Under the permit, Holcim would destroy 14 acres of wetlands to build and operate the plant; it would then create 61 new wetland acres.
The project is slated for 3,900 acres on the Mississippi River, near the Ste. Genevieve-Jefferson County border.
The corps also recently released a biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency, which opposes the Holcim project, says it would affect but not wipe out the endangered Indiana bat.
Environmentalists have long opposed the project; they say it would affect the air quality in St. Louis, which has had troubles meeting EPA guidelines.