The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
On Nov. 22 Winona County in Minnesota voted to ban frac sand mining.
Sand mining is the procedure of extracting specific sand types for use in hydraulic fracturing in the western United States.
Frac sand mines are found throughout southwestern Wisconsin and neighboring parts of Minnesota. While there are no active sand mining sites in Portage County, neighboring Wood county is host to eight active mines.
In Wisconsin, there are a total of 128 sand mines, 96 of which are active. The state holds 75 percent of the frac sand market in the nation.
The sand in Wisconsin is in such high demand because its structure and shape of the particles are ideal for the process of hydraulic fracturing.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a technique in which large amounts of water are combined with various chemicals and sand. The mix is then pumped into a well under high pressure in order to extract natural gas from fracturing the rock where the gas is trapped.
The mined sand is used in the process of hydraulic fracturing as a way to spilt open rock formations underground which contains natural gas.
Fracking has been opposed strongly due to the process’s high usage of water and chemicals. Some of the chemicals used in the process are toxic and even flammable. There have been cases of these chemicals being found in water sources nearby to fracking sites.
The natural gas industry in the United States is a growing section of the economy. Therefore fracking has been praised as a means to produce a cheap, clean, domestic energy resource.
Zach Jones, junior natural resources planning major, said, “Natural gas does produce less carbon emissions. So I suppose it might be better than getting oil from say Saudi Arabia.”
Aside from the process of fracking being highly controversial, the mining of the sand used for fracking has caused an uproar in many areas.
Megan Zielke, senior natural resources planning major, said, “Like many other mining industries, frac sand mining is detrimental to the land being worked on. There’s a lot of open surface area which can result in erosion and unproductive soils.”
Sand mining has been opposed because of particles polluting the air as a by-product of mining. Many residents have also complained about the noise and traffic.
In 2011, when sand mining was first becoming popular in the state, the Wisconsin DNR and the Department of Health Services reported that there is “little conclusive evidence of possible negative health effects from crystalline silica.”
Due to heavy complaints of air quality around the mines, the DNR said it would re-investigate the health and environmental effects of open pit sand mining.
Advocates for the mines say they provide economic benefits such as job creation and fueling local economies.
According to an informational pamphlet on the economics of mining created by UW Extension, “Smaller amounts of jobs are being created by new mining operations due to the increasingly mechanistic nature of the industry.”
The high level of controversy surrounding both sand mining and the use of sand in hydraulic fracturing has led many communities like Winona County to be put on the defensive. Many oppose the mines simply because they oppose fracking and want to move in the direction of renewable energy resources.
Winona County is not the only municipality which must decide the energy resources to prioritize. Citizens like Jones describe the balance between renewables or energy that meets short-term goals as a fuel source and a job creator.
Jones said, “I’d also rather not develop the infrastructure for that when we could easily develop new renewable infrastructure like wind or solar.”
Genevieve Adamski
Environment Editor
gadam590@uwsp.edu
