A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit by Midwest Frac against Barron County, Wis., over highway improvements, repair and maintenance agreements for a portion of Hwy. P in the Town of Arland, Wis., according to the Rice Lake Chronotype.
Superior Silica Sands, the largest frac sand company in the county, is in the process of buying Midwest Frac and has agreed to assume all obligations of the agreements for about $1.3 million.
Under the road agreements with the county, Midwest Frac, owned by Matt Torgerson, was to pay the county $1.3 million to improve a 6-mile stretch of Hwy. P from 8th Avenue north to Hwy. 8 to haul silica sand from its mine to its customers.
Midwest Frac filed a lawsuit in Barron County Circuit Court against the county, highway commissioner Mark Servi and county administrator Jeff French on Jan. 3.
The company asked a judge to void its repair, improvement and maintenance agreements with the county, claiming that the county was discriminating against the frac sand industry by requiring road use agreements from the frac sand industry alone.
Superior Silica Sands has a road agreement with the county to pay $2.3 million to improve Hwy. P from the entrance to the company’s mine site on Hwy. P south of Hwy. 8, about 8.5 miles.
EOG Resources has agreed to pay the county $1 million to improve Hwy. P from 11 1/2 Avenue north to Hwy. 8, about 1.5 miles.