Clayton County residents weigh in on sand mine expansion plan

ELKADER - Clayton County residents weighed in last week on a study committee's proposed restrictions on the expansion of the Pattison Sand Co.'s mine near the Mississippi River.

Most of the approximately two dozen speakers at a meeting Thursday praised the restrictions proposed by the Mine Reserve Expansion Study Committee - a five-member panel appointed to develop zoning regulations for the expansion.

Many of them expressed support for the 'Say No for Now” movement that has gathered more than 300 petition signatures urging county officials to conduct more in-depth research before ruling on the rezoning request.

Late last year the Pattison mine - the state's only frack sand mine - and several nearby landowners requested that 746 acres be rezoned from agricultural to heavy industry to facilitate underground mining of the silica sand used in the hydraulic fracturing process of extracting oil and natural gas.

After 12 meetings and 31 hours of discussion, the study committee in late June released 16 proposed restrictions on topics ranging from air and water quality to noise, traffic and impacts on natural scenery.

More than a dozen Pattison employees, many of them still wearing their orange and chartreuse safety vests, attended the meeting.

One of them, Tim Adkins, Pattison's director of health and safety, said the company 'strongly disagrees” with some of the recommendations.

'We request the opportunity to tell our story and to address every single recommendation,” Adkins said.

Company partner and co-founder Bernard Pattison, 85, said he has never seen a more difficult time to run a business. 'There will never be another sand mine in Iowa because of people like you,” he said.

Several speakers said they thought the study committee's recommendation on reclamation of land - that the county require 'a reclamation bond that will cover the estimated full cost of reclamation” - was too vague.

Bob Knutson of Rowley, who has a home near the mine, said it should specify the hiring of a landscaping consulting firm to make sure the bond covers the actual costs of reclamation.

Guttenberg Mayor Russ Loven urged for the recommendations to place more emphasis on preserving the scenic views along Great River Road, which passes near the mine. Loven urged delaying action on the zoning request until Clayton County develops a new comprehensive plan.

Cedar Rapids attorney Karen Erger, who has a home near the mine, urged strengthening a recommendation on the enforcement authority of the county zoning administrator.

Kay Vifian, who lives near the mine, said she does not understand the rush to approve the rezoning request.

'This is a big decision that will have ramifications for hundreds of years,” she said.

At a meeting earlier this year, mine owner Kyle Pattison said the company has sand reserves on its existing property that will last more than 15 years.

'We're simply asking the county to take some more time. This is important,” said Daryl Bruxvoort, a spokesman for the 'Say No for Now” group.

That group, on its Facebook page, said the county in 2010 approved a similar rezoning without restrictions, enabling 'practices that have destroyed significant amounts of Mississippi River bluff and negatively impacted neighboring residents and communities.”

Based on Thursday night's comments, the study committee is to finalize its recommendations and submit them to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which is to rule on the zoning change petition.