How Fracking’s Appetite for Sand Is Devouring Rural Communities

Last week I published an essay in SAPIENS titled "How Fracking’s Appetite for Sand Is Devouring Rural Communities." It draws on material from my book and describes how frac sand mining has upended some people's lives in Dovre, Wisconsin.

Their stories highlight the deep emotional distress that occurs when connections to place and community are suddenly ruptured.

The essay is accompanied by a photo slideshow. You can find it here:

Thomas W. Pearson, "How Fracking’s Appetite for Sand Is Devouring Rural Communities," SAPIENS, May 4, 2018.

https://www.sapiens.org/culture/fracking-rural-wisconsin/

Spring '18 Book Discussions & Presentations

Now that When the Hills Are Gone is officially making its way out into the world, I'm honored to have the opportunity to give a few presentations and participate in some discussions about the book. Here's a list of some of the events lined up between now and early April.

Events

February 22 - Book presentation and discussion @ University of Wisconsin-Stout, Jarvis Hall Science Wing room 112, starting at 7pm, sponsored by the Honors College. Event is free and open to the public.

February 28 - Presentation, "Wisconsin's Sand Mining Wars: Confronting Corporate Power Along the Fracking Commodity Chain," Department of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, 12:00pm, Mountainlair.

March 5 - Book presentation and discussion @ Chippewa Falls Public Library, 105 West Central Street, starting at 7pm. Event is free and open to the public.

March 22 - Presentation at the Wisconsin County Code Administrators Spring Conference, Stoney Creek Inn, Mosinee, WI, starting at 12:30pm.

April 6 - Participant on round table discussion, "Extraction: Narratives and Action," Society for Applied Anthropology annual conference, Philadelphia, 3:30-5:20pm.

April 13 - Invited to deliver the 2018 Doris P. Slesinger Lecture, Department of Community & Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Details TBA.

Interviews and book publicity

The November 2017 publication of When the Hills Are Gone garnered some media attention locally and beyond, and I've had the pleasure of giving a few interviews about the book.

Prior to the book's publication, I was interviewed by Erik Ness for the story "Communities Take the Lead in Battling Frac Sand Mines," which was published in The Progressive (May 23, 2017).

Also before publication, I spoke about my research and book in an interview with Culture and Agriculture (June 18, 2017), which sponsors the academic journal that published my first article about frac sand mining.

Not long after the book came out, I spent an hour talking with Jerry Poling from UW-Stout's University Communications. He wrote an excellent article titled "Frac-tured hills: Professor's book goes inside the fight against Wisconsin sand mines." It was carried by several local and west-central Wisconsin newspapers, including the CVPost.org (Nov. 22, 2017), the Dunn County News (Chippewa Herald) (Nov. 25-26, 2017), the Chetek Alert (Nov. 29, 2017), the Leader-Telegram (Dec. 3, 2017), the Spooner Advocate (Dec. 6, 2017), and possibly others.

In addition to local newspapers, I had my one minute of fame on the evening television news. I was interviewed by Emma Wheeler for News 18 WQOW Eau Claire, and a brief segment aired on December 7, 2017 (unfortunately, the video is no longer posted).

Beyond western Wisconsin, I was invited to be a guest on Wisconsin Public Radio's The Morning Show (Dec. 11, 2017), and spent the 8am hour discussing frac sand mining with host Kate Archer Kent and callers.

Lastly (so far?), I was interviewed by Jason Zasky for a feature in the online publication Failure Magazine (Jan 19, 2018).

It's out! When the Hills Are Gone

Yes, it's finally here! After a long and sometimes intense process, When the Hills Are Gone was released in print last week.

When all is said and done, this book project lasted over five years from the start of research to the end product. Research began in early 2012 and I started putting pen to paper while the fieldwork was ongoing, publishing an article in 2013. I drafted a formal book proposal and three sample chapters in early 2015. After positive feedback from three university presses all interested in the project, I signed a contract with the University of Minnesota Press in September 2015. I then delivered a full manuscript by June of 2016 and a final manuscript by October of last year. I went through the copy edits in March and April of 2017, and then the final page proofs this past June and July. And now here it is:

An overlooked part of fracking’s environmental impact becomes a window into the activists and industrial interests fighting for the future of energy production—and the fate of rural communities 

WHEN THE HILLS ARE GONE: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community
By Thomas W. Pearson
University of Minnesota Press - November 2017

When the Hills Are Gone tells the story of Wisconsin’s sand mining wars. Providing on-the-ground accounts from both the mining industry and the concerned citizens who fought back, Thomas W. Pearson blends social theory, ethnography, stirring journalism, and his own passionate point of view to offer an essential chapter of Wisconsin’s history and an important episode in the national environmental movement.

PRAISE FOR WHEN THE HILLS ARE GONE:

“Thomas W. Pearson takes us to the front lines of one of the great under-reported environmental issues in America today—how the fracking industry’s hunger for sand is impacting rural Wisconsin. His deep research and intimate portraits of people on all sides of the controversy make this an important and timely read for anyone concerned about our country’s environment, natural resources, and what happens when the needs of big business collide with those of ordinary citizens.” —Vince Beiser, journalist

"When the Hills Are Gone is a riveting, sobering story about local democracy at the whipped-around tail-end of the frack-driven oil and gas boom that has rocked the United States since the turn of the millennium. The writing is lively and reflective—deftly portraying the many micro-tactics through which local democracy can be undercut and the many kinds of people working against this in rural Wisconsin. This is critical reading for understanding contemporary politics on the ground."—Kim Fortun, University of California, Irvine

“A masterful blend of stories and scholarship that will be the definitive account of a major environmental justice issue. Thomas W. Pearson is fair-minded and unflinching as he traces the erasure of place and the scramble to salvage community and democracy.” —Adam Briggle, author of A Field Philosopher’s Guide to Fracking

“The churning engine of the global energy economy always touches down in local places, sometimes to brutal effect. Thomas W. Pearson provides a compelling and deeply personal story of one such place, the sand hills of Wisconsin. Both an ethnography and a study of state and local politics, When the Hills Are Gone richly describes community divisions and sudden activism in places where disruptive environmental change is ongoing.” —Paul Robbins, director, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Thomas W. Pearson is associate professor of anthropology and assistant director of the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. His research has been published in American Anthropologist, Cultural Anthropology, American Ethnologist, Human Organization, and other academic journals. He lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin.

For more information, including the table of contents, visit the book's webpage:

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/when-the-hills-are-gone

STHA 2017 Annual Meeting

Effective Communication and Civic Engagement: 

Strategies, Techniques & Importance

Save the Hills Alliance 2017 Annual Meeting

Saturday, October 21, 2017 – 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Roger Marten Community Center

120 S. Franklin Street, Mondovi, WI

 (Just South of US-10 in the City of Mondovi)

               Speaker, LeAnn R. Ralph, is a staff writer for the Colfax Messenger and the Glenwood City Tribune Press Reporter. She has been writing for newspapers for 20 years and also has written for the Dunn County News, the Country Today and the Janesville Gazette. LeAnn earned an undergraduate degree in English with a writing emphasis from UW-Whitewater, and she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from UW-Whitewater. LeAnn is the author of five books of true stories about growing up on a small family dairy farm in West Central Wisconsin. She has been covering frac sand mines since the first mine in this area was proposed by Fairmount Minerals near Menomonie in 2006 and has written about proposals for sand mines, reclamation permits, environmental impacts, public hearings, conditional use permits, mine licensing agreements, the state Supreme Court decision regarding the Town of Cooks Valley, and boreholes. LeAnn also serves as a supervisor on the Otter Creek Town Board in Dunn County.

Presentation: Communicating in a Democracy: Letters to the Editor and speaking to elected officials. The four strands of the language arts — reading, writing, speaking and listening — are an important component of a participatory democracy. Writing Letters to the Editor for local newspapers, speaking during public comments sections of county boards, town boards, village boards and city councils and contacting state representatives and senators are an essential part of civic engagement. If you do not let elected officials know what you are thinking about a particular issue, such as frac sand mining, and how it will impact the environment, and your communities and neighborhoods, including roads and property values, they will not know their constituents’ positions. During this presentation you will learn more about communicating effectively through Letters to the Editor and will work on writing a letter. Editors love to publish letters from local residents on issues that will affect the community — with an emphasis on local, because they know their readers enjoy reading Letters to the Editor. Broadcasting a more generic Letter to the Editor to all 400+ newspapers in the state is not nearly as effective. During this presentation you will also learn more about communicating with elected officials — how to go about it, what to say and when to say it, and you will work on your own set of talking points that you can take to your next town board meeting, county board meeting or listening session of a state legislator. Let your voice be heard. Speak up!

                Speaker, Ken Tschumper, is a retired dairy farmer who lives with his wife, Robin, near La Crescent, Minnesota on a farm his great grandparents homesteaded in 1867. He graduated from Winona State University in 1972 with a Degree in Biology. A life-long progressive Democrat, Ken has been involved in politics since the Vietnam War. He has served on the Governor’s Dairy Task Force, an Advisory Board to the Land Stewardship Project, and on the La Crescent Town Board. In 2006, Ken was elected to a term in the Minnesota Legislature. Among other committees, he served on the Health and Human Services Committee and was the chief author of the Minnesota Single Payer Healthcare bill, convincing 30 other members of the House to sign on as co-sponsors. He passed an update of the State Groundwater Protection Bill and was the only freshman legislator appointed to the Conference Committee for the Clean Indoor Air Act which eliminated smoking in public places and exposure to second hand smoke. In the last five years Ken and his wife, Robin, have spent their time and energy working to stop frac sand mining in southeastern Minnesota.

               Presentation: We Need to Think Faster, Smarter and Bigger. Ken’s presentation will focus on techniques for better communications to and for individuals, groups and the public, especially using some aspects of current technology. He feels strongly that the anti-frac sand mining movement and other progressive movements, as well, have the potential to be much more effective and produce much more positive results.

Presented by Save the Hills Alliance (STHA), Inc. 

CAFE Interview

Over four years ago I published "Frac Sand Mining in Wisconsin: Understanding Emerging Conflicts and Community Organizing" in an academic journal called CAFE, which is sponsored by the Culture and Agriculture section of the American Anthropological Association. The journal recently invited me to talk about what's been going on with my research since publication of the article. I was quite honored to do this and it was neat to reflect on how my work has evolved over the years, leading, ultimately, to my book on frac sand mining, which is set to come out next month.

The interview is now on the Culture and Agriculture blog. Here's my favorite line from the interview, which pretty much captures my vision for the book too: "I wrote this article with a general audience in mind and sought to minimize the theory sloganeering and nonsensical scholarly dribble that spoils so much of academic anthropology today."

Full interview is available on the Culture and Agriculture blog

Sand mining growth in Texas

A recent Houston Chronicle report explains that booming Permian Basin oil production in Texas is fueling demand for frac sand. It claims that the "largest wells now consume up to 25,000 tons" of sand, or 50 million pounds each, up from 1,500 tons several years ago. More sand has typically meant more productivity when a well is fracked.

Availability of sand, however, is temporarily limited. Due to high transportation costs, companies such as Fairmount Santrol, Hi-Crush, Smart Sand, Preferred Sand, U.S. Silica, and Emerge Energy -- all active in recent years in western Wisconsin -- are opening new mines or expanding existing operations in Texas.

Although "northern white sand" from Wisconsin is considered to be higher quality, "Texas brown sand" is "cheaper and closer."

Energy companies such as Halliburton also claim they are "developing injection chemicals that can help increase the oil flow from wells as opposed to simply blasting more sand."

The report quotes industry analysts, however, who believe that fracking will still require increasing amounts of sand.

See Jordan Blum, "Has fracking reached peak sand?," Houston Chronicle, July 25, 2017.

Glenn Stoddard, 1958-2017

I was very saddened to learn that Glenn Stoddard passed away last month after a recurrence of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Stoddard was an environmental and civil rights lawyer who represented many citizens and grassroots groups fighting against the expansion of frac sand mining in their communities.

Prior to opening Stoddard Law Office in 2005 in Eau Claire, Stoddard practiced law in Madison with Ed Garvey, who was known, among other things, as the founder of Fighting Bob Fest, an annual event celebrating Wisconsin's progressive political traditions. For many years, Garvey and Stoddard, S.C. was one of the most influential civil rights and environmental law firms in Wisconsin.

As frac sand mining emerged and matured as an issue, Stoddard spoke frequently at public forums and helped educate concerned citizens and local officials about the tools available to regulate or deter frac sand mining. At at time when many area law firms cultivated ties to the ballooning frac sand industry, Stoddard was viewed as an independent, trustworthy community advocate and defender of the environment.

In relation to frac sand mining, Stoddard was probably best known for developing a nonmetallic mining licensing ordinance for Cooks Valley in 2008, an unzoned township in Chippewa County. After drafting what was then an innovative ordinance, he assisted in defending the town when it was sued by mining interests. In the 2012 landmark decision of Zwiefelhofer v. Town of Cooks Valley, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the right of towns to regulate frac sand mining through such licensing ordinances. The ruling was a significant juncture in what remains an ongoing battle over the rights of local communities when confronting harmful land-use practices introduced by powerful corporate interests.

In addition to his work on frac sand mining issues, Stoddard also formed part of the legal team opposing the Gogebic Taconite Mine in the Penokees and he was involved in many other prominent environmental cases. Stoddard's obituary, which he wrote in his final days, was published in the Ashland Daily Press and the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

Coming soon: When the Hills Are Gone

I'm very excited to announce the forthcoming publication of my book on grassroots activism and frac sand mining in Wisconsin! Titled "When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community," it will be published by the University of Minnesota Press in November 2017. It is now listed on their webpage.

Winona County, MN, frac sand ban

Even with the recent lull in the regional frac sand market, Winona County, in Minnesota, recently adopted an ordinance that bans further development of industrial sand mining operations.

• Karen Zamora and Josephine Marcotty, "Winona County passes frac sand ban, first in the state to take such a stand," StarTribune, November 22, 2016. 

Frac sand mining has been a contentious issue in Winona for several years and the ban represents an assertion of local control. Members of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), a Minnesota-based non-profit, had pushed for the ban since June of 2015. According to a statement by the LSP:

"The County Board passed the ban by a 3-2 vote in the form of an amendment to Winona County’s existing zoning ordinance. It prohibits any new operations for the production of industrial minerals, including the silica sand used in hydraulic fracturing."

The ban comes amid signs that frac sand mining may begin to intensify once again following a two-year downturn.

Sand Mines Reopening

Here's another report from last week on the expected rebound of demand for frac sand. According to the article, "Wisconsin frac sand producers say they are poised for another sand boom after an agonizing two-year lull." Some industry folk anticipate returning to 2014 production levels next year.

However, not all observers are so optimistic.

"Oil industry analytical firm IHS is a little more guarded in its predictions for the frac sand market in 2017. Managing Director Samir Nangia expects demand to grow by 15 percent per year. The most recent IHS ProppantIQ report states there are around 20 idled sand mines in the U.S., most of them in Wisconsin, accounting for 26 million tons of idled frac sand production capacity."

See the full article: Rich Kremer, "Wisconsin Frac Sand Producers Bullish About Market Rebound," WPR, December 1, 2016.

Signs of a come back?

Stock for frac sand companies appears to have risen in value following indications that OPEC intends to cut production, thereby triggering increased demand for U.S. fracking. Is this the dawn of a new phase of frac sand mining development in Wisconsin?

As one observer notes, "Frack sand could be a very interesting industry as we head into 2017 and beyond. Many of the advances in shale drilling in recent years -- drilling longer horizontal portions of wells, doing more fracking stages per linear foot of horizontal well, and using more sand per individual fracking stage -- all point to sand volumes growing at a pace much faster than overall drilling activity."

For the full discussion, see:

• Tyler Crowe, "Shares of Frack Sand Suppliers Explode After Today's OPEC Announcement," The Motley Fool, November 30, 2016. 

Save the Hills Alliance, Annual Meeting - Oct. 29, 2016

Fifth Annual Meeting Event Announcement - Sat., October 29, 2016

1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. - Veteran's Center - Menomonie, WI

Save The Hills Alliance, Inc. - FLYER ATTACHED

This year's program will concentrate on the social impacts of frac sand mining and quality of life, as well as the role that citizens play in public policy as it relates to regulatory oversight and protection of their communities.

Speakers - THOMAS W. PEARSON, Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Social Science Department at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, WI, and KIMBERLEE WRIGHT, Attorney and Executive Director of Midwest Environmental Advocates in Madison, WI.

Speaker, Thomas W. Pearson, received his PhD from the State University of New York at Binghamton and has conducted extensive research in Central America on environmental activism. He has been researching the social dimensions of frac sand mining in the area for the past four years, particularly grassroots activism and community-level conflicts. He is currently working on a book, tentatively titled, When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Place, Community, and Democracy, which will be published in 2017 by the University of Minnesota Press.

Speaker, Kimberlee Wright, received her law degree and a BS in rural sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she has worked statewide in the public interest on issues ranging from elder law, environmental protection, conservation, and support for people affected by family violence. She has served as the director of conservation programs for The Nature Conservancy and executive director for Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, and she has managed a statewide grant program for land trusts working in partnership with the DNR to protect critical habitat and natural areas. 

Our speakers will be introduced by Dave Carlson. Dave is known from his long running  TV series, "Northland Adventures" and  "Northland Outdoors." Dave has received many awards for his conservation journalism. He will also moderate a period of questions and answers.

We will also present a short preview of Jim Tittle's upcoming documentary, "Promise in the Sand," which will take a look at what really happened after the frac sand boom hit Minnesota and Wisconsin as depicted in his 2013 documentary, "The Price of Sand."

Frac Sand Mining and the Disruption of Place, Landscape, and Community in Wisconsin

I'm very pleased to share an article which was just published by Human Organization, a peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology. The article is based on in-depth interviews and examines the impact of frac sand mining on people's sense of community, quality of life, and place. Please feel free to contact me if you would like a PDF copy of the article or if you have any comments.

Article Citation:

Thomas W. Pearson (2016) Frac Sand Mining and the Disruption of Place, Landscape, and Community in Wisconsin. Human Organization: Spring 2016, Vol. 75, No. 1, pp. 47-58.

Abstract:

Driven by hydraulic fracturing, sand mining has expanded rapidly in western Wisconsin, with hundreds of mining operations appearing over the past several years. Silica sand is extracted from hills and then shipped by rail around the country, where it is pumped under high pressure with water and chemicals into oil and gas wells. An often overlooked dimension of America's unconventional energy boom, the growth of sand mining in Wisconsin has been incredibly divisive, generating wealth for some lucky landowners while creating new environmental hazards for others. This article documents how people experience mining-related changes and conflicts, drawing on ethnographic interviews with residents living next to mines, processing plants, and hauling routes. While not everyone experiences mining equally, I argue that people grappling with a sudden influx of mining activity suffer significant disruptions that erode their sense of place and belonging. These experiences, however, are rarely taken into account by policymakers, local officials, or others seeking to evaluate the costs and benefits of frac sand mining. This omission underscores the need for ethnographic research to deepen our understanding of how people are impacted by new resource extraction industries.

Health Impact Assessment

The Institute for Wisconsin's Health, Inc. (IWHI), a non-profit, recently released a "Health Impact Assessment of Industrial Sand Mining in Western Wisconsin." The report was produced in collaboration with 15 local and tribal health departments and summarizes existing research addressing air quality, water resources, land reclamation, and quality of life.

It was quickly noted by local media that the report downplays health concerns related to silica dust, one of the more contentious environmental health issues raised by frac sand mining. The report concludes that as currently regulated it is unlikely that people living near frac sand operations will be exposed to respirable crystalline silica.

Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA), an organization that has advocated for stricter regulations of frac sand mining, criticized the IWHI report for relying on industry-sponsored studies that focus primarily on larger PM10 particles. Findings from a study being conducted by Dr. Crispin Pierce, director of UW-Eau Claire's environmental public health program, were not addressed in the IWHI report. Pierce's study, recently published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, focuses on smaller PM2.5 particles. His study has found elevated levels of PM2.5 particles near frac sand operations. MEA also criticized the IWHI report for ignoring the potentially higher risk presented in localized settings where multiple frac sand operations are clustered.

While the issue of air quality has received significant attention, the IWHI report also suggests that frac sand mining is likely to affect people's quality of life, disrupting their sense of place and cultural heritage. The report is rather vague in its findings, however.

The impact of frac sand mining on quality of life and sense of place is a question addressed in my own research, which, coincidentally, I discuss in an article that will be published in the next few weeks entitled "Frac Sand Mining and the Disruption of Place, Landscape, and Community in Wisconsin," Human Organization, 75(1). I will be sure to post that article when it finally appears in print.

Save the Hills Alliance: Event on Reclamation

Perspectives on Prairie, Forest, and Farmland

Reclamation, Restoration, and Mitigation

Saturday, November 7, 2015 – 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Veteran’s Center of Menomonie

E4710 Co. Rd. BB, Menomonie, WI

(1 mile North of I-94 on State Hwy. 25)

Speaker, Dan Masterpole, is the County Conservationist and the Dept. Director of the Chippewa County, Wisconsin, Department of Land Conservation & Forest Management. Dan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Minnesota State University-Mankato, and graduate degrees in Water Resources Management and Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dan will lay out the basic rules and regulations of local and state laws related to reclamation standards. Our Keynote Speaker, Katherine Denning, is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. She has conducted research in the fields of plant conservation, plant evolution, and plant and insect ecology. Kathy will discuss her current work, which focuses on assessing the extent to which tall grass prairie habitat reconstruction can restore communities of native insect pollinators. Speaker, Katie Himanga, has a degree in forest resources from the University of Minnesota and is a Certified Forester. She served as mayor of the City of Lake City, Minnesota, from 2004-2008 and recently served on the Minnesota Silica Sand Rule-Making Advisory Panel. Katie will focus on rehabilitating mining sites, what you need to know about reclamation plans, natural and cultural resources, what to advocate for during the permitting process, and what to watch for once mining is underway. Katie will explain how modern, science-based rehabilitation goes beyond stable and green slopes and considers restoration of ecological function and landscape character. A question and answer session will follow with the presenters. This year’s program will be a science-based course on the pros and cons of prairie, forest, and farmland reclamation and restoration.

Presented by: Save The Hills Alliance, Inc. STHA, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable tax-exempt non-profit organization. Our mission is to protect the natural environment and promote the ecologically sound use of land through public awareness, education, and advocacy. • Email: AllianceSaveTheHills.register@gmail.com • Phone (877) 353-4976

What's $80,000 to a frac sand mine?

For some people, it's a house. For others, it's a car... or two. Or maybe student loan debt. For some frac sand mines, it's a few hours, if that.

Last month Alpine Sand, operating near Arcadia, in Trempealeau County, was fined $80,000 for violating storm water regulations. Their facility was originally cited by the DNR in October 2012 for mismanaging storm water. Then sand and sediment washed into a tributary of Newcomb Valley Creek on multiple occasions in 2013.

What does $80,000 mean to a frac sand mine?

According to the Wall Street Journal, in April the going rate for frac sand was $56 per ton (not including transportation or handling costs). We know that Alpine Sand is permitted to haul 180 loads a day from this particular mine. If we assume that one truckload typically carries about 20 tons (a figure I have heard for other operations), then we might estimate that Alpine Sand moves about 3,600 tons per day.

That means they move about $201,600 worth of sand, daily. If they operate every day, that's $1,411,200 per week. Eighty grand doesn't seem to represent a very big dent in their revenue stream.

What does such a modest fine mean for frac sand mining in general? Well, the Wall Street Journal recently boasted about a Texas-based investment firm striking it rich with Wisconsin frac sand, scoring gains of $1.4 billion on a $91 million investment. Read that again. $1.4 billion. Billion.

I wonder if an $80,000 fine will really encourage these out-of-state billionaires to take environmental standards seriously?

Flying Kites and Photographing Mines with Public Lab

Last month we flew a kite and took aerial photographs of the Hi-Crush frac sand operation in Augusta, WI, using techniques developed by Public Lab. The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (Public Lab) is a community -- supported by a 501(c)3 non-profit -- which develops and applies open-source tools to environmental exploration and investigation. The tools allow ordinary citizens to engage in monitoring and research. Using kites or balloons, Public Lab has developed a easy-to-use system for taking aerial photographs, which has been utilized by communities in Peru to produce maps to support land tenure claims and by environmentalists and citizens in Louisiana to monitor the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In brief, the technology entails rigging up a small digital camera to a kite or weather balloon and then flying it over the site that you wish to photograph. Online, open-source software is available from Public Lab to stitch the photographs into an aerial map. A student and I decided to explore how this technology might be applied by citizens concerned about the rapid growth of frac sand mining. We collaborated with the Concerned Citizens of Bridge Creek and the Citizens for Environmental Stewardship, both based out of the Augusta area, and we were joined by two members of Public Lab who were touring the region to learn more about frac sand mining.

Resources for Understanding SB 632 / AB 816

State lawmakers are once again discussing a proposed bill that would undermine local regulation of frac sand mining. On February 26, Senator Tiffany and Representative Ballweg introduced Senate Bill 632 and Assembly Bill 816, which would restrict local governments from applying new regulations to existing frac sand operations. Legislators have moved quickly, holding a joint committee meeting days later to gather testimony on the bill. Concerned citizens and others had less than a week to study the bill and raise questions, but dozens still appeared in Madison for a contentious committee hearing on Monday, March 3 (see reports on the hearing by Isthmus and Wisconsin Watch). The committee held a vote on Wednesday, March 5, approving the bill and passing it on to the full senate.

Defense of local democracy: An evolving regional grassroots response to frac sand mining

Over the past few years, dozens of local groups have formed in response to frac sand mining. Many of these groups are simply neighbors who began meeting in someone's kitchen, garage, or basement to study the impacts of frac sand mining and to find ways to express their concerns. In countless communities dealing with complex questions raised by mining, we've seen that concerned citizens help to strengthen and defend local democratic decision-making processes. 

When organized, citizens have helped to stop proposed operations that are viewed as incompatible with community well-being, such as mining operations near schools, residences, or sensitive nature reserves. Citizens have also played an important role in monitoring frac sand operations, pressuring local officials to create new ordinances or enforce existing regulations, and calling out local conflicts of interest. As with any grassroots effort, however, the longevity, size, organizational capacity, values, and influence of the groups vary widely and evolve over time. Some groups rise and fall quickly, especially as controversial proposals or operations fade from the public eye, while others might achieve an enduring presence in their community.