Ever since the hydraulic fracturing boom began in the mid-2000s, Wisconsin has been a leader in mining the silica sand the fracking industry uses in a watery mix with other chemicals to extract oil and gas trapped in shale rock. And similar to fracking, some have long worried that sand mining harms the environment and public health, polluting air and water.
But in a draft report released Tuesday, Wisconsin’s pollution control agency said in its most recent assessment of the industry that sand mining is not expected to have “significant” impact on air quality. Advocates quickly criticized the report, saying Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) relied heavily on industry data to draw their conclusions.
“The big problem here is that the [Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources] is not collecting data,” Stacey Harbaugh, Midwest Environmental Advocates spokeswoman, told the Lacrosse Tribune.
Generally used for paving and water filtration, silica sand has been mined in Wisconsin for hundreds of years. However, the otherwise steady but minor industry ballooned after fracking expanded across the country, pushing the demand for frac sand made from silica to unprecedented levels.
In 2010 there were only seven sand mines and processing plants in Wisconsin. Now, it has 128 sand industrial facilities, according to state data. In fact, mining grew so abruptly that for a time the state wasn’t counting how many mines it had, according to the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Wisconsin leads the nation in industrial sand production.
http://archive.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/05/3361561/frac-sand-bill-wisconsin/ While the sand mining industry created thousands of jobs it also triggered worries among environmentalists and citizen organizations. Studies have found that sand mines can produce fine particle pollution that is invisible to the human eye commonly called PM 10, as well as the even smaller PM 2.5. This particle pollution can harm the lungs and heart, according to the EPA. The agency says studies have linked particle pollution exposure to a variety of illnesses, including premature death in people with heart or lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks, and aggravated asthma. Moreover, there are known health risks associated with airborne crystalline silica, though information on silica health effects come almost exclusively from work settings, so data on potential public health issues is lacking. There are no federal or state standards for silica in ambient air.
In its draft report, the DNR said it has not identified “problematic air quality at sand mining and processing sites,” and that it has not requested testing for crystalline silica given the absence of state and federal standards. The DNR also said the main concern is PM 10, not the more dangerous PM 2.5. And while “specific information about current cumulative impacts is not known,” the DNR report said emissions are addressed by existing regulations.
The industry has been slapped with violation notices over the years, according to published reports. Many of the violations involve contaminated waterways that received sand, sediment, and dirt after heavy rains. Furthermore, in 2014 the Land Stewardship Project, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, found that over 40 percent of frac sand producers in Wisconsin broke state environmental laws, Inside Climate News reported.
Scott Walker: Let’s Gut The EPAClimate by CREDIT: AP PHOTO/PHELAN M. EBENHACK Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) said Tuesday that the EPA should be gutted…thinkprogress.orgMeanwhile, the sand mining industry has increased its campaign contributions in Wisconsin, according to Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. For example, Pattison Sand — a company which owns an Iowa mine that’s had more workplace safety violations than any other industrial sand mine in the U.S. — gave Republican Governor Scott Walker $8,100 over the last few years.
Under Walker, the DNR has issued significantly fewer violation notices to polluters than under the previous administration. Walker, who has called for weakening the EPA, last year pushed to have more control over the DNR and has over the years cut the agency’s funding.