Grant County, Wis., Circuit Court Judge Craig Day ruled in favor of Pattison Sand Co. in its lawsuit against the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board (LWSRB), according to SWNEWS4U.COM. The ruling overturns the decision by the LWSRB last August to deny permits to the Pattison Sand Co. to mine frac sand within the Riverway boundary. Unless the LWSRB chooses to…
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This Week’s Market Buzz
According to the Allamakee County Standard, the Allamakee County, Iowa, Board of Supervisors held a public hearing regarding the regulation of frac sand mining and other industrial minerals. Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake said the county received an application for the mining of silica sand almost two years ago, and though that application was eventually withdrawn, it did bring…
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Northern Frac Proppants II LLC is looking to rezone more than 570 acres of land to start a sand processing and loading facility in Cleveland, Wis., and will have a public hearing on the request, according to the Jackson County Chronicle. The proposal includes sand mining, processing and a rail spur for transportation. The county has three other processing operations…
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A proposed frac sand mine appears to have the green light in far western Wisconsin, after a state appeals court upheld Buffalo County’s approval of the project, it was reported on WTAQ radio. A three-judge panel in Wausau, Wis., affirmed a circuit judge’s refusal to overturn a conditional use permit for R-and-J Rolling Acres to run a 125-acre silica-sand operation.…
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According to the Winona Daily News, a permit for a proposed sand mining and wash-plant operation in the Town of Waumandee, Wis., was denied 3-0 by the Buffalo County Zoning Board of Adjustment. More than 50 people testified at a second public hearing on the project, most of them opposed to granting a conditional-use permit to mine frac sand on…
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A new frac sand mine in southeastern Barron County, Wis., will make relatively quick work of a sand deposit estimated at about 6 million tons, according to the Barron News-Shield. Information in the reclamation plan identifies the owners of the 80-acre property as David and Louise Driver of Chetek. The operator is Chieftain Sand & Proppant-Barron of New Auburn.
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The Wabasha, Wis., city council voted to extend its frac sand moratorium for another year in order to get more complete information on air quality, truck traffic and environmental concerns, according to the Winona Daily News. Although the frac sand moratorium was extended, a moratorium on truck traffic was not. The council at the same meeting allowed that moratorium to…
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Two challengers out-polled incumbent Trempealeau County, Wis., supervisor Tom Bice in a recent primary election, leaving the frac sand mining proponent off the April general election ballot. Jon Schultz and Daryl Kramer received 61 and 55 votes, respectively, according to the LaCrosse Tribune. Bice, the District 5 supervisor since 2010 and former chairman of the Environment and Land Use Committee,…
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In his State of the Union Address, President Obama spoke about the importance of natural gas as an energy source. “One of the reasons why is natural gas – if extracted safely, [is] the bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change. Businesses plan to invest almost $100 billion in new…
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According to the Winona Daily News, a public hearing on a Glacier Sands application to create a 350-acre industrial zone in the town of Milton, Minn., will be held Feb. 13 before the Buffalo County Land Resources/Zoning Committee. Glacier Sands seeks to rezone agricultural land to industrial use as first step in a larger plan to seek permits for building…
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