Planning and Zoning Commission recommends 18-month frac sand mining moratorium at Monday's public hearing

by Lissa Blake

Opponents of frac sand mining cleared a hurdle Monday night, December 17 regarding postponing the practice in Allamakee County.
Following a public hearing Monday which drew dozens of comments from area residents packed inside the large courtroom of the Allamakee County Courthouse, the Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) unanimously passed a recommendation to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors to adopt an 18-month moratorium on frac sand mining in Allamakee County, pending further study of the matter.
“The Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission hereby recommends the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors approve a moratorium on the consideration and/or issuance of conditional use permits for the mining of industrial sand (frac sand) and all related uses for  a period of up to 18 months, ending 6/30/14, to provide the time necessary to review all aspects of sand mining and determine if the Allamakee County Zoning ordinance and/or the Allamakee County Comprehensive Plan adequately address the impacts related to the mining, transporting, processing and storage of industrial sand,” reads the resolution.

COMMENTS
The Supervisors heard from a courtroom full of concerned citizens, who cited everything from quality of life to destruction of the County’s roads. Trudy Balcom of Harpers Ferry said she would be really pleased if the Commission formed a committee to study the issue and gather information. “I think if we are careful and study it well, we will be able to provide some measure of safety for our residents of the county,” said Balcom.
Jeff Abbas of Dorchester agreed, asking if such a committee could be composed of both the P&Z and members of the community. “There are so many different facets of this. If we could involve representatives from different communities, representing tourism, hunting, botany and biology … the more voices on a committee, the better study we’ll have,” said Abbas.
Robert Nehman of New Albin next held up a petition containing 800 signatures supporting a moratorium. “This shows that we do have the support for this moratorium through the county and the region,” he said.
Ric Zarwell, who represents the Allamakee County Protectors, said during the moratorium period, he would like to see a ban on test drilling. “We just can’t afford to have so many holes drilled into the aquifer,” he said.
P&Z Coordinator Tom Blake said the Board of Health regulates the drilling of wells in the county, including test bores. “They are required to be cased and sealed when they are closed up. I wonder if that is something that should be taken up with them,” said Blake.
Zarwell said he has been informed that the companies doing the testing “ride around in a stealthy way. They’re out probing around Wisconsin and probably here too. They’re punching holes in these aquifers that are not being sealed up,” said Zarwell.

INFRASTUCTURE COST
Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour said his number-one concern about the prospect of frac sand mining is the added traffic impact. “This mine was proposed at 125 semis a day. That may not sound like a lot. But there are mines out there that have an excess of 1,000 semis a day. When you put that strain on a county system, you have complete failure. The infrasture will have to be rebuilt. And not just the gravel. Our county pavements are not built for that,” said Ridenour.
Ridenour added that Iowa does not have an aggregate removal tax, like 27 other states. “During a moratorium, maybe we could make some consideration for spring legislation in Iowa,” he said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT
David Mitchell, who owns the parcel of land along Sandy Cove under consideration for frac sand mining, said he felt like Christ on the cross, prior to his comments. “I’ve got a petition here to get public support,” said Mitchell.
“I have a power line that I see every day that was supposed to go across at Lansing. There are often dead turkeys underneath. Our river has been dredged out and looks like a canal and the farmers here are reaping the rewards of that. I just say that you guys should do some serious thinking about not only the environmental effects, but also the economical effects,” said Mitchell.
“You’ve got Bluffland protection and people are coming in because they can’t build where they bought. That stuff was supposed to be grandfathered in. Not all these things have only environmental effects … There’s gravel roads and sand coming from the river for our country roads. There’s silica in that,” said Mitchell.

A TRAVESTY
Ted Peck, an outdoor writer from New Albin, said he chose to retire in Allamakee County because of its unequaled beauty. “It would be a travesty to take these hills out without considering generations to come. It would be a travesty to come in and ruin what God has created for all time,” said Peck.
Ray Mitchell added that, while he agrees with a lot of the things his uncle (David Mitchell) said, he said he feels there have been a lot of bad decisions, regarding things that are going on in the county. “I don’t think that allowing one more thing to go on that’s not right is good. We have some of the poorest water quality and we should have the best. Yes, there is silica dust everywhere, it doesn’t mean we need to add any more,” said Ray Mitchell.

A ROLE MODEL
Abbas added the people of Allamakee County have a great opportunity in front of them. “If we had been given the power to predict tornadoes or earthquakes... believe it or not, we are on the cusp of that kind of decision and it’s every bit as disastrous. We can be a role model to Iowa and the country… If we all do the work together, we really do stand a chance to show the country just how things can be done and should be done,” said Abbas.
Zarwell added a big part of the role of the Allamakee County Protectors is education. “There is a person in our group who has made some excellent videos. We are ready to take bus trips and have narrators there locally who understand the pros and cons and what these mines do. One of us has been there several times. It’s indescribable. I think making judgments this far away without seeing it at some point… The engineer mentioned the roads. We have info they tore up blacktop roads in eight weeks. What are they going to do to gravel roads,” said Zarwell.
Diane Weymiller added she is very concerned about the health aspects. “I think a lot of them are going to take  awhile to come out. We need to be cautious,” she said.

MOMENT OF SILENCE
Following the public hearing, P&Z Chair Nancy Everman requested a moment of silence for the people of Sandy Cove Elementary School in Connecticut. “What we’re discussing tonight is important. But what they’re experiencing is more important,” said Everman, before the room fell silent.

BOARD DISCUSSION
Before approving the recommendation for the moratorium, the P&Z Commission discussed the pros and cons of a one-year vs. a two-year moratorium.
Blake said if the Commission recommended a one-year moratorium, they could extend it if their research wasn’t done in that amount of time. If the Board recommended a two-year moratorium, and finished their research before that time was up, the moratorium could be lifted.
P&Z Commissioner Jim Pladsen said if they couldn’t accomplish something in 18 months, “then we’re not doing our job.” Everman added she liked the fact that 18 months would take them through two legislative sessions. She intends to further investigate the passage of an aggregate use tax in that time.
Blake said he agreed the group needs to visit some sites in Minnesota or Wisconsin. “We also need to solicit comments from all agencies and people impacted by it. That’s going to take some time, but I think we should get that done in 18 months,” said Blake.
Supervisor Larry Schellhammer said he’d like the Supervisors and the public to receive status updates throughout the process. Supervisor Sherry Strub said she was comfortable with the 18-month moratorium, provided the P&Z feels that would be adequate time to tackle the issue.
The Commissioners also discussed inviting Chuck Gipp from the Department of Natural Resources and Laurie Moody from the Board of Health to subsequent meetings.

WHAT’S NEXT?
The recommendation now goes to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors, which will consider it at its next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 26 due to the Christmas holiday.