| From: Matthew Byrnes | Recent letters by opponents of the frac sand mining moratorium try to frame this important discussion simply in terms of economic and property rights. While frac sand mines might create jobs, most of those jobs would go to truckers and mine workers who probably wouldn’t live in Winona. Additionally, the mines could destroy the tourism industry and thus hurt the economy. Who wants to vacation or retire in an ugly county? Even if you assume that the mines will actually create more longterm jobs than they destroy, the mining would put the county in an awkward place: how do you decide what number of jobs are worth the increase in silicosis and other health concerns that result from frac sand mining? Fears about silica sand mining are downplayed by pro-frac folks saying “it’s only sand” and “we’ve mined sand for centuries.” The same people promoting mining have also said that our sand is so special and rare that the Saudis want it. Either our sand is “only sand” or it’s so rare that the Saudis want it, but it can’t be both. The potential frac mining operations are not the same as the small quarries that have operated in Winona for years. This is a specific type of silica sand mined for a specific purpose. Frac sand mining will hurt the quality of life here in the driftless region and will certainly destroy the quality of life for the folks living near the actual natural gas mining sites. Property rights have also been used to justify frac sand mining. The idea that the government shouldn’t tell people what to do with their land is used by frac supporters, but they don’t actually believe it. If you really believe that the government can’t tell you not to mine on your land, then you believe that the government can’t tell you not to shoot deer out of season on your land, store nuclear waste on your land, or build a giant skyscraper on your land. I’m fairly sure the most recent letter writer doesn’t actually take this stance; but rather, takes a pro-business stance masquerading as an anti-government stance. For the sake of argument, lets assume that the writer does in fact identify as a radical anarchist who believes the government shouldn’t have a say in what people do with their land. There’s still two problems with this land rights argument: First, even the anarchists believe that people are responsible for the ways their actions affect others. Second, I highly doubt that the current landowners’ ancestors were the ancient ancestral land holders; rather, our government forcibly took the land from the folks who used to live here and sold it back to the current owners ancestors (or to someone who bought it and later sold it to the current landowners) at a very low price. The landowner holds the land because of the government. If a landowner truly believes that the government has no say in what people do on their land then the landowner rejects the foundation for their own rights to the land. (But frac sand mining supporters don’t actually think this, they just use an anti-government/pro-landowner argument to promote their own financial interests…) If you’re going to make an anti-government argument, make an anti-government argument! If you’re going to make a pro-business argument make a pro-business argument. Just don’t conflate the two. Be honest in your reasons. I support a moratorium on frac sand mining in Winona county because I believe more research needs to be done into the potential health hazards of silica dust inhalation and because I am concerned about the extreme and irreversible damage frac mining is causing to the land aquifers in other parts of the country. |
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Support a moratorium (11/20/2011)
Frac sand mining in Buffalo Co. (11/20/2011)
| From: Joan Schnabel On Wed., Nov. 30, at 6:30 pm the Zoning committee of Buffalo County will consider whether they want to propose a moratorium on frac sand mining. If they decide to proceed with this a public hearing would be held in December. It is important that people come to the zoning committee meeting to support the request for a moratorium. Here is where things stand now in Buffalo County. There are currently 2 approved frac sand mining operations. One is operational and the other, owned by Ryan Barth on Platte Valley Road, has just been permitted. A permit application from Steve Stamm of Mondovi will be taken up December 1. A permit application recently submitted by Herman Hoesley was denied, but he will be able to reapply at a future date. There are more permits (number unknown) in the planning process. The decision to approve a permit rests with the Board of Adjustment. This is composed of three county residents appointed by the County Board. They are advised by the BC zoning administrator and a technician. This system generally works fine to resolve most zoning requests, but frac sand mining is on a different scale and impacts many more people in the county than just the adjoining neighbors. When a request comes before the Board of Adjustment, they are required to notify all property owners adjacent to the land in question and to place a notice in a newspaper. Once a permit request has come before the board they are required to act on it within 30 days. With minimal publicity, the recent hearing and resultant approval of a permit application slipped below many people’s radar. After being granted a permit the mine owners must negotiate with the town/county over the road. They are asked to escrow an amount to cover the damage that the multiple, heavy trucks will cause to the town/county roads. This amount is negotiable and if the mine owners are unwilling to escrow the required amount the mine cannot go forward. But if the town and or county set the amount too low, the taxpayers end up footing the bill, or driving on poor roads. Permits are required from the DNR for air quality and stormwater and high capacity wells. The chief monitoring concern is crystalline silica, small particles that act like shards, and remain permanently in the small airways of the lungs causing inflammation and potentially cancer, silicosis or autoimmune disease. WDNR, while acknowledging that this is a known health hazard, says it lacks the expertise and resources to monitor these. Per Jeffery Johnson, a DNR environmental engineering supervisor, most companies ask for and get a variance to bypass the requirement for air monitoring. Only one, EON (formerly Enron), has had to install a monitor due to citizen concerns in Chippewa Falls. (Source Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, WisconsinWatch.org 7/31/11) Frac sand mining is a big business. Unimin recently paid $5.3 million for 436 acres 45 miles NE of La Crosse. That comes to approximately $12,000 per acre. Even if your property does not adjoin a mine you still could end up with 60 trucks going by your house every day, noise, and exposure to crystalline silica, not to mention the loss of the scenic bluffs and the beauty of our county. If the zoning committee chooses to consider a moratorium at the Nov. 30 meeting, this would be followed by a public hearing sometime in December. It would then go to the full county board for a vote. Please make your voice heard. Come to the meeting, or if you can’t make it, call or email Paul van Eijl, Buffalo County Zoning administrator 608) 685-6218 paul.vaneijl@buffalocounty.com and let him know your concerns. |
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