(Radio Iowa) – A northeast Iowa mining company plans to expand its quarry along the Mississippi River — and it’s filed a request with the state for permission to nearly quadruple the amount of water it uses from local wells and the river. The Pattison Company, located in Clayton County, pumps the water to mine sand and also uses water to rinse the sand before it’s carted away by train.

The City of Garnavillo has sent a letter to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, saying residents in the area are worried the company’s expanded water usage could impact private wells and cause shortages in the Jordan Aquifer.

The aquifer provides drinking water to about half a million Iowans. The aquifer is about 25-hundred feet below ground in southwest Iowa, but near surface level in northeast Iowa.