Walking for our rights: Dorchester man will share message about frac sand during walk to Dubuque

by Lissa Blake

A Dorchester man is hitting the road this week to highlight the perils of frac-sand mining. Jeff Abbas, an environmental activist, nature photographer and food producer who runs Kitchen Table CSA with his wife, Mary, will trek from his home in rural Dorchester to Dubuque this week, via the Great River Road.
Abbas will speak about the damage caused by frac sand mining at two Dubuque forums: Saturday, July 27, at 6 p.m. at Hope House, and Sunday, July 28, at 1 p.m. at the Catholic Worker Farm.
Abbas is president of the Allamakee County Protectors (ACP), a group of concerned Iowans leading the fight against frac sand mining in the state of Iowa. Originally, ACP started as a group from Allamakee County, but the issue became statewide very quickly.
The group was instrumental in the passage of an 18-month moratorium on frac sand mining in Allamakee County. Winneshiek County followed shortly after, with its own 18-month moratorium. Since that time, Protector organizations in both counties have been in contact with the departments of occupational and environmental health at both the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Winneshiek County recently endorsed a grant application for both universities to work together on a study about the public health impacts of frac sand mining.

FRACKING AND FRAC SAND
“Fracking," short for hydraulic fracturing, refers to a 75-year-old technique used to release petroleum, natural gas (including shale gas, tight gas and coal seam gas), or other substances for extraction. Fractures are created after a hole is drilled into reservoir rock formations.
Frac sand, or silica, is quartz sand of a certain size and shape that is suspended in fluid and injected into oil and gas wells under high pressure. The fluid pressure opens and enlarges fractures as well as creates new ones. Sand grains are carried into these fractures and prop them open after the fluid is pumped out.

PART AND PARCEL
Abbas and fellow ACP Board Member Robert Nehman attended the national summit "Stop the Frack Attack" in Dallas, TX last September.
“We had the opportunity to see first-hand how fracking has adversely affected the Dallas - Fort Worth area. We met many nationally known activists, including several of the people from Josh Fox’s films 'Gasland' and 'Gasland 2'.  This was our first opportunity to bring sand mining to the national stage. Because of our involvement, fracking and frac sand mining are now essentially considered as being part and parcel to one another,” said Abbas.

SPEAKING OUT
Abbas recently has been invited to be keynote speaker at a number of conferences, including the Iowa Prairie Conference at Luther College in Decorah. On his journey to Dubuque, he plans to spread his message about sand mining and the damage it will cause if it continues. “Both fracking and frac sand mining are not only destructive, the damage they do is permanent,” he said.
An avid hiker, Abbas recently hiked 48 miles of the Appalachian Trail within the confines of Smoky Mountain National Park. This year he had planned a backpack trip to the Teddy Roosevelt Wilderness in Medora, ND, but said he was dealt the ultimate blow when he found out his chosen route was “off limits.”
“I received notice that the route was closed because they are fracking in the national park!” said Abbas.

WALKING SCHEDULE
Abbas will leave Dorchester Saturday, July 20, and plans to stop in New Albin, Lansing, Harpers Ferry, Marquette and Guttenberg on his way to Dubuque.
“This route gives me the opportunity to see the smaller communities and photograph the things that are intrinsically beautiful to the Driftless Area and northeast Iowa,” said Abbas. Abbas also said he will be taking the “cut-off” before Guttenberg to travel past the Pattison Sand Mine. “I’m going to walk by and get some pictures of the destruction they’re doing,” he said.

A SMALL SETBACK
Abbas experienced a minor setback Sunday when a large blister, caused by walking on pavement, caused a delay in the journey. He returned home Sunday to tend to his blistered foot. During an interview Monday, he said, “I am going to pick up the hike again tomorrow morning, but not carry the backpack. I'll carry a smaller daypack with water, etc. and Mary will be my support caravan. I don't care if I have to wrap my foot in 121 layers of moleskin. I'm continuing this thing no matter what.”

QUESTIONS WELCOME
Abbas encourages anyone with questions about fracking or frac sand mining to stop and talk to him along his route. He’ll be wearing a sign strapped to his backpack.
He’ll also be blogging his entire trip at walkingforourrights.blogspot.com, which will include a daily journal about his travels. When asked why he feels so strongly about the issue he is walking for, he replied simply, “We have no choice.”
“I do it out of pure love for what this area has to offer in its form of wilderness, recreation, beautiful scenery and the rural life that is so rapidly disappearing around this country,” he said.
For more information about efforts to stop frac sand mining, visit allamakeecountyprotectors.com.