Report: Frac sand mining threatens health, economies, environment

CLAYTON COUNTY - The growing demand for frac sand - mined primarily in Wisconsin and Minnesota but also in northeast Iowa - threatens human health, the environment and local economies, according to a report issued Thursday.

Mining interests are shifting many costs of frac sand mining to the public, report co-author Grant Smith, senior energy policy adviser with the Civil Society Institute, said during a telephone news conference to announce the study.

'Local and state governments have a responsibility to balance those interests and not just look the other way,” Smith said.

Citing analysts' estimates, the study's authors projected that 95 billion pounds of the fine-particle sand will be used this year in the hydraulic fracturing of wells to extract oil and natural gas - an increase of 30 percent from the 2013.

Wisconsin and Minnesota combined have 164 active and 20 proposed frac sand facilities, they said.

Iowa has only one operating frac sand mine, the Pattison Sand Co. in Clayton County, but it has extensive deposits of suitable sand.

'Citizens living near frac sand mining in Wisconsin are witnessing a massive destruction of their rural landscape,” said Kimberlee Wright, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates, which participated in the study.

Elected officials and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources largely have dismissed residents' concerns about their health and the environment, she said.

Neither Minnesota nor Wisconsin has adopted air quality standards for airborne silica that will adequately protect people living or working near frac sand mining sites, said Heather White, executive director of the Environmental Working Group, which also participated in the study.

Chronic exposure to airborne silica can lead to emphysema and lung disease, she said.

The volume of water used to remove impurities from frac sand can strain water supplies, and chemicals added to the water could pollute surface and ground water, the study authors said.

Among economic harms cited by the authors were potential loss of nearby real estate values and shortened life spans of roads and other infrastructure.

The authors said political action at the local level can slow the frac sand rush and buy time to evaluate potential risks and pose solutions.

Iowa's Allamakee County, where supervisors imposed a frac sand mining moratorium before enacting a restrictive zoning ordinance, is a good example, they said.

The study is available at www.bit.ly/fracsandmining