Western Wisconsin sand mining goes against the grain for some residents

By Mary Jo Wagner, Wisconsin Public Radio

EAU CLAIRE (WPR) Many of the hills in western Wisconsin are turning out to be valuable to oil and gas drilling companies.  But some in Chippewa County are fighting plans to mine the sand there.

As the country looks for ways to become less dependent on oil from the Middle East, companies drilling for natural gas and oil in the U.S and Canada need ways to squeeze the most out of underground reserves.  That’s where “frac” sand comes in.  It's pumped underground during drilling to keep rock fractures from closing up.  

Canadian Sand and Proppant has an agreement with two farmers in Chippewa County to mine frac sand for more than 40 years.   Sand would be trucked to a new processing plant near a rail line in Chippewa Falls.  The

”Probably 60-percent of our market will be into the Canadian market and the remainder into the US,” says Gary Stone, plant manager and Vice President of Operations.

What is it about the sand in western Wisconsin that's getting attention?  UW-Eau Claire geology professor Kent Syverson has studied the land features of Chippewa County          

“The reason why we have these sand deposits here in western Wisconsin is because we used to have mountains. And over millions of years those mountains disappeared and what was left behind was quartz sand."  

Professor Syverson says valuable frac sand is medium sized and rounded.  It’s also much stronger than the fine sand used to make glass.   In some parts of western Wisconsin he says it's very deep in the ground.     

“But in Chippewa, Dunn and Jackson County, there we have these sandstones right at the surface making them easy to mine."

Too easy, according to mining opponents like Ken Schmitt.  He claims that air quality, ground water, and property values will be hurt by mining and the increased truck traffic.   His beef farm is next to the first mine sites and possibly competing ones.

”Between Barron and Chippewa, there’s three other companies with thirteen attached mines that were looking before the price of oil dropped…and doesn’t count the three or four mines associated with Canadian Sand here…and it’s going to eat up a lot of farmland," says Schmitt.

Beth Walton objects to the proposed processing plant in Chippewa Falls because of health concerns and how it will affect tenants in her nearby apartment building.  She's part of the group, Concerned Chippewa Citizens that's filed a lawsuit

“The decision to grant a conditional land use permit to Canadian sand was not handled through the proper procedures or with the proper amount of due diligence, fact finding," says Walton.

Concerned Chippewa Citizen’s lawsuit goes to court in April. 

Two years ago, a group of nearby Dunn County citizens stopped a Texas company from leveling Hoffman Hills. That was in part because the town's Smart Growth -- or comprehensive long range plan -- spelled out that mining didn't fit with the landscape.  However in Chippewa County, Ken Schmitt says state mandated plans have not been finished.

"Up until last June, the people in the town of Howard had no idea that what we had was desirable anywhere on this scale," says Schmitt.

Professor Syverson says this is an example of the trade-offs that'll be required if the country wants to be energy independent.   Plant manager Stone says financing for the project is still up in the air and lower prices for foreign oil are complicating things, but he hopes to start mining within the year and put more than 50 people to work.

"Why do our kids grow up and move away? Because they can't find jobs - well, if industry's and jobs aren't being brought into the area, there's nothing for them to do."

But in the rural areas, Ken Schmitt says only the mine site land owners will benefit financially.

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Information from Wisconsin Public Radio, www.wpr.org