• A privately funded project to add turning and auxiliary lanes on FM 874 in Winkler County, Texas, is about to begin. The work will be done at the entrance of Atlas Sand’s mine in Winkler County on FM 874 approximately 1.7 miles west of SH 115. “Winkler County is quickly becoming the frac sand hub of the Permian Basin. TxDOT has been an excellent partner in establishing an infrastructure solution that will alleviate traffic and safety concerns at our facility,” said Chris Scholla, vice president of supply chain and logistics for Atlas Sand. “This partnership with TxDOT is another example of Atlas Sand’s dedication to enriching our local communities.”
• Texas hopes to unveil a new strategy to protect the threatened dunes sagebrush lizard by the end of next month, according to the Texas Tribune. And the endangered species expert managing the remake for the state says the new approach will not only work but stand the test of time – unlike its predecessor. The news comes about half a year after Gulley’s team opted to scrap the state’s original approach, implemented in 2012, after determining it had failed to protect the threatened west Texas reptile whose habitat spans the oil-rich Permian Basin.
• An environmental group and the Ho-Chunk Nation are suing the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources over the agency’s handling of a permit for a Georgia timber company that wants to build a frac sand operation in Monroe County, Wis., according to the Lacrosse Tribune. Clean Wisconsin argues that DNR Secretary Dan Meyer overstepped his authority when he agreed to review an administrative law judge’s ruling that had invalidated a permit issued to Meteor Timber for the proposed $75 million processing and loading facility. Companion complaints filed in Dane and Monroe county circuit courts seek to block the ongoing review while a judge considers whether the DNR’s rules allow the agency to potentially reverse a judge’s order.