Supervisors begin process to establish one-year moratorium on frac sand mining

by Bob Beach

Area residents filled the Board of Supervisors room at the Allamakee County Courthouse Monday, October 29 to support a moratorium on frac sand mining in the county. Representing a group called the Allamakee County Protectors, attorney Karl Knudson of Decorah said the project engineer for the proposed frac sand mine operation southwest of New Albin made it clear that frac mining for oil and natural gas has resulted in a large market for frac sand.
Knudson said that problems created by frac sand mine operations in other areas have made it clear that current regulations are inadequate to address issues specific to frac sand mining and that the Allamakee County Protectors would like to see a one-year moratorium enacted in order to allow time to review the issue and make necessary adjustments to Allamakee County’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance.
Knudson said that he had reviewed the County’s Comprehensive Plan and found while mining of St. Peter sandstone is mentioned, there is no mention of mining sand from the Jordan layer, which is what has been proposed. He said that the Jordan layer is an important aquifer with surface exposures in northeast Iowa. Knudson said that the Comprehensive Plan should be modified to recognize the importance of the Jordan Aquifer and the importance of protecting the blufflands for their scenic value, as the landscape could be “devastated” by such mining operations, affecting tourism.
The County’s Zoning Ordinance, Knudson noted, currently does not include a bonding requirement for mining operations, which leaves open the option for a mining company to simply declare bankruptcy after mining operations are complete, rather than incur the expense of reclaiming the land.
Knudson assured the Board that imposition of a moratorium would be legal, as the Iowa Supreme has ruled that such moratoriums are a “legislative function” and not subject to judicial review. He said that there is no set procedure for the imposition of a moratorium, but suggested that the “safe way to go” would be by amending the County’s Zoning Ordinance.
To begin that process, he presented the Board with a resolution to direct the Planning and Zoning Commission to call a special meeting to draft an ordinance to establish a one-year moratorium on the issuance of permits for extraction pit operations. Once the Planning and Zoning Commission drafts such an ordinance, it would then hold the required public hearings and then recommend its adoption to the Board of Supervisors, which would then hold its own public hearings before adopting the moratorium.
Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler agreed that a moratorium would be appropriate and that the procedure outlined by Knudson would also be appropriate. Because consideration of the resolution to direct the Planning and Zoning Commission to draft an ordinance to impose the moratorium was not on the Board’s agenda this week, the Board agreed to pass the resolution at its regular meeting next Monday.
In other business, the Board met with State Representative Bob Hager and County Attorney Kistler regarding the care and placement of a 57-year-old Parkinson’s patient at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, WI. Kistler explained to Hager that the patient had fallen through every crack in Iowa’s health care system since being hospitalized at Gundersen in August - at age 57, he does not qualify for Medicare; with an IQ of 72, he does not qualify for funding for those with developmental disabilities; and the dementia resulting from his Parkinson’s disease does not qualify as a mental illness, so he is not eligible for the funding available to those with mental illnesses.
Kistler said he would qualify for funding through Medicaid for care in a nursing home facility, but placement has proved problematic because he has been considered an elopement risk since leaving the Northgate Care Center in Waukon against medical advice. The solution to the elopement risk, Kistler explained, would be the appointment of a guardian, which has also proved problematic because there are no volunteer guardians in northeast Iowa and the patient has not been deemed legally incompetent.
Chairman Larry Schellhammer said he had spoken with the patient’s brother, who said he would be willing to help but was unsure of what his responsibilities and liabilities would be if he were to agree to serve as his brother’s guardian. Kistler agreed to meet with the brother to explain the guardianship. Supervisor Lennie Burke said he had spoken with Northgate Care Center and was relatively certain that if a guardianship could be obtained for the patient, he could be placed at that facility.