October 14 public meeting in New Albin educates attendees on sand mining

by Bob Beach

Approximately 150 area residents gathered at the New Albin Community Sunday, October 14 for an educational meeting regarding silica sand mining and the frac mining process for oil and natural gas in which the sand is used.
Meeting organizer Ric Zarwell of Lansing said that the county had been caught by surprise by the proposed sand mine southwest of New Albin in an area known locally as Sand Cove. He said that the mining company is attempting to fast-track the process to get the mine approved. Zarwell claimed that hedge fund investors on Wall Street and “big oil” are behind the proposed mine. He said that the proposed mine is a community issue, not a political issue and that the choice the community has to make is between “neighbors and invaders.”
He said that mining companies hoping to cash in on the frac mining gold rush want to “pounce on unsuspecting communities” and require land owners who agree to allow mining on their property to sign non-disclosure agreements. “Know that this is a war,” Zarwell said. He encouraged area residents to attend the scheduled public hearing on the mining company’s conditional use permit application before the Allamakee County Board of Adjustment October 24 at 4:30 p.m. in the large courtroom at the Allamakee County Courthouse. (Editor's Note: The permit application for the mining company has since been removed from the October 24 meeting agenda due to further planned discussion about Allamakee County roadways involved in the proposed mine location.)
Former Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman John Smola said that the Board of Adjustment has the authority to approve the application, deny it, or approve it subject to conditions. He said that if the permit is denied, the Board’s decision could be appealed in District Court, noting that the mining company has “deep pockets.” Smola said that it would be up to the public to suggest the conditions under which the permit might be approved.
Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, a retired Geology professor from the University of Chicago, said that traditional sources of oil and natural gas (pockets of the resources trapped between the “cap rock” layer and the “source rock” layer) have been all but depleted. The process of frac mining, induced hydraulic fracturing, utilizes high-pressure fluids and chemicals to fracture the source rock, allowing the oil and natural gas to escape. He explained that the process involves drilling approximately two miles down to the beneath the source rock and then drilling approximately two miles horizontally.
The fracing mixture is then introduced into the horizontal mine at extremely high pressure, squeezing the source rock between that pressure and the pressure of the two miles of rock pressing down on the source rock. Fine silica sand is then pumped into the fractures in the source rock to keep them open, allowing the oil and natural gas to escape and be collected. Rodolfo said that because the process uses many more wells than traditional mining, more people are affected. He said that the chemicals used in the fracing mixture are unknown and are not required to be disclosed under what is known as the “Haliburton Loophole” in the Clean Water Act.
Rodolfo said that the main product yielded from frac mining is natural gas, which he says does burn clean but becomes carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, once it has been burned. He added that the frac mining process encourages the leaching of methane, a worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, into the air and into aquifers.
While Iowa does not have shale areas in which the frac mining process is used, it does have the sand used in the process, Rodolfo explained. He said that the sand used in frac mining is comprised of very small round grains of quartz which are uniform in size, hard and chemically durable. The sand’s properties make it perfect for frac mining, but it also makes the best aquifers.

CONCERNS ABOUT FRAC SAND MINING
Rodolfo said that frac sand mining poses its own risks to public health through potential contamination of the air and water. He said that thousands of gallons of water are used per day in frac sand mining operations and that flocculants, chemical additives that cause the sand to clump together, can contaminate water supplies when the water used in mining operations is recycled. Some flocculants, he said, are carcinogenic neurotoxins and should be considered “guilty until proven innocent because the stakes are too high.”
With regard to air quality, Rodolfo said that very fine particles of silica are released into the air during mining of the frac sand and are spread as the sand is transported by trucks. He said that the particles have been shown to cause lung cancer but there are no federal air quality regulations regarding such particles. He said there is no way to monitor the particles. Rodolfo said that workers at frac sand mining sites are exposed to levels of the particles that exceed Occupational Safety and Health Administration limits, even if the workers wear respirators.
He emphasized that silica sand mining is not the same as traditional mining for sand and gravel because of the very small size of the particles and because of the use of flocculants.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Pat Popple of Chippewa County, WI said that she has worked for four years to educate people about frac mining and frac sand mining. She said that it is difficult to get local government officials to understand the ramifications of frac mining and silica sand mining. She said that in her county, petitions were signed, t-shirts and buttons made and meetings too numerous to count were attended, but in the end efforts to stop mining operations were unsuccessful and Chippewa County became “a model of what not to do.”
She said that there are currently 10 mines in operation in Chippewa County, covering approximately 2,500 acres. However, she said that efforts of concerned citizens had resulted in increased transparency and stronger regulations.
She shared aerial photographs of several sand mines and processing facilities in Wisconsin, where millions of tons of sand are mined each year, noting that truck traffic continually caused ruts in the road that the counties in which the mines were located were obligated to repair.
In addition to the impacts locally by the sand mines, Popple said she had been contacted by people from other areas of the country where Wisconsin silica sand is being used in frac mining operations. She said that a park ranger from Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota told her that mining companies there are “flaring” natural gas during fracing operations and that the influx of frac mining workers from out of state has caused a notable rise in crime, drugs and prostitution.
Despite the concerns of citizens, Popple said that hydraulic fracturing operations are underway in 34 U.S. states and that much of the natural gas produced by fracing in the U.S. is being compressed and sent to other countries.
Popple said that frac sand mining had quickly become “a gigantic gold rush” that no one was prepared for. She suggested a moratorium on sand mining in order to “buy some time to bring everyone up to speed,” noting that it can take years to come up with a plan and an appropriate ordinance to regulate such mining operations.
A petition for such a moratorium was available for those in attendance to sign, but Popple said that getting a moratorium in place could not be the end of the fight. She encouraged anyone concerned about frac sand mining to continue to seek information, to question developers and utilize social networks to raise awareness of the issues related to frac mining and frac sand mining.
“You can’t replace a hill,” Popple said. “The hills and the bluffs are being taken away and they will never come back. Keep on it. Persist. Don’t give up.”