Trempealeau County, Minn.-area residents who oppose frac sand mining claimed a small victory when after a long public hearing on a proposed frac sand mine outside Blair, Wisc., company representatives voluntarily withdrew the permit because of heavy opposition.
According to the Winona Daily News, Trempealeau County Zoning and Environmental Specialist Jake Budish, who has worked for the county dating back to the beginning of the frac sand boom, said he’s never seen it happen before.
Scott Beers, the co-owner of Global Sand Link LLC, said that he wasn’t expecting the outcry he heard during a three-hour public hearing about his proposed 80-acre frac sand processing facility, and when he did, he had no problem changing his plans.
The majority of the 100 or so attendees has concerns about health issues, property values, but were primarily upset with the proposed trucking route, planned to go through the heart of Blair – a town with a population of about 1,300. Residents worried the traffic, combined with traffic from a nearby frac sand facility that plans to use the same route, would be too much for the town.
Beers said his company will work to develop a plan residents can support.