Wisconsin Watch Media Partners Center (https://partners.wisconsinwatch.org/tag/frac-sand-news-roundup/)
Drama in Houston County, new PAC contributors, and the effects of declining oil prices…all the latest frac sand news you need to know to start your weekend.
The latest in Wisconsin frac sand. See our in-depth stories since 2011 on our frac sand project page. Minnesota’s Houston County may become the first in the state to permanently ban frac sand mining after an unanimous vote last week to approve a new mining ordinance. Meanwhile, Alberta-based rail company Canadian Pacific is upgrading its tracks, which carry crude oil as well as sand through the county, and a Houston County resident is still planning multiple frac sand mining operations in the area. But frac sand opponents are still optimistic: “This is an amazing move and victory for the people,” said one resident.
A lot of news out of Minnesota, but a giant piece of news from Wisconsin. Check out the latest frac sand news in this week’s roundup.
The Wisconsin DNR reports that there has not yet been any major changes in the frac sand industry, but at least one oil analyst, based in Milwaukee, isn’t convinced: “The only thing we can say for sure is that the go-go days are over.”
Prairie du Chien residents organize to stop a frac sand loading facility, air quality was center stage last year, and a consulting group says most sand companies are now tied to fracking.
The latest in Wisconsin frac sand. See our in-depth stories since 2011 on our frac sand project page. More than 40 percent of the registered voters in the Winona County, Minn., township of Saratoga have signed a petition calling for a moratorium on frac sand mining in the area. “Even the smallest communities have the right to decide what does and doesn’t happen in their community,” said activist Johanna Rupprecht. Winona Daily News November 25
Less than one month since the first city in Texas banned hydraulic fracturing, industry supporters are wondering whether they should blame their defeat on Denton’s large college student population.
The latest in Wisconsin frac sand. See our in-depth stories since 2011 on our frac sand project page. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Board’s chairman has ordered DNR staff to respond to a petition calling for a comprehensive study of the environmental impacts of frac sand mining in the state. The petition was organized by Midwest Environmental Advocates and signed by 1,100 people. October 29 Wisconsin Public Radio
Several residents near the Northern White Sands mine in Utica recently filed complaints with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency about sand from the Texas-based company’s operation blowing into their yards and homes.
Water demand from frac sand mines forces the city of Whitehall to request a third well, frac sand mining invades north central Illinois, and one city in Texas has begun making moves to ban all hydraulic fracturing.
Frac sand and oil clog the rail lines for other users, a county accuses the wrong mining company of permit violations, and annexation issues rear once again.
Oklahomans are seeing more earthquakes (possibly from fracking), silica health concerns aren’t borne out by Minnesota studies, and rail revenues shoot up due to all those cars full of sand.
Minnesota mines can be approved without an environmental review, an Eau Claire citizen finds a loophole that could leave taxpayers to foot the bill for reclamation, and We Energies wants a new natural gas pipeline to serve frac sand mines in western Wisconsin.
Obama’s climate plan could lead to more frac sand demand, the Lower Wisconsin Riverway Board loses a bid to stop mining within the riverway and North Carolina limits disclosure of fracking chemicals.