Issues

	Issues
Explore, enjoy and protect the planet

Hyperion Oil Refinery

SD DENR has issued a draft air permit for the Hyperion oil refinery near Elk Point. Read letters from groups including the EPA and the National Park Service indicating problems with the permit. Also read information regarding air, water, and land pollution from the proposed refinery.

Tar Sands Pipelines

TransCanada filed a siting application for a second pipeline Keystone XL carrying tar sands across South Dakota. The first pipeline Keystone is currently being constructed across the eastern part of South Dakota. Learn more about these pipelines.

Locally Grown Food

The Living River Group created a list of producers of locally grown food in the Vermillion area. Dakota Rural Action has a South Dakota directory of locally grown food for the entire state.

Grassland Wilderness

The Black Hills Group is working to get wilderness status to protect several grassland areas in western South Dakota. The Sierra Club is part of the South Dakota Wild Grasslands Coalition.

Water Quality

The East River Group wants citizens to let our officials know that water quality is important. Learn more about the quality of some eastern South Dakota rivers and lakes.

Vermillion River

The Vermillion River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Watershed Assessment Project will include two years of extensive field data collection in the eleven counties of the watershed. "An Economic Evaluation OF Flood Control Alternatives in the Vermillion River Basin, South Dakota" describes some of the River’s history and makes the case that wetlands are the most efficient means of flood control on prairie rivers.

Missouri River

The Living River Group is dedicated to the preservation of the Missouri River and its tributaries. These rivers and streams are essential to supporting the wildlife and economy of the region.

Spirit Mound

Part of the support for a biological inventory and other studies at Spirit Mound was from the South Dakota Chapter of the Sierra Club as well as the Living River Group of the Sierra Club.

Eastern SD Growth

The East River Group issued a report examining how we can act to protect our resources in the face of growth in eastern South Dakota.