According to the Star Tribune, a judge refused to reinstate a wetlands permit for a $75 million frac sand operation in Monroe County, Wis. Atlanta-based Meteor Timber has been working for four years to gain permission to build a frac sand plant and rail loading facility on a property that includes a hardwood swamp.
The DNR under then-Gov. Scott Walker granted the company a permit to fill 16.25 wetland acres in 2018. But records showed that staff felt pressured by department administrators to approve the permit despite concerns over a lack of information on how the company would mitigate the wetland loss.
The Ho-Chunk Nation, Midwest Environmental Advocates and Clean Wisconsin challenged the permit and an administrative law judge revoked it in 2018, finding the DNR lacked enough information to grant it.