Sand Mining in Western Wisconsin: Overview

Goal and background: 

This post is intended to supply background information on the topic of frac sand mining in Wisconsin. Later in the semester this information will be greatly expanded upon through projects utilising numerous GIS tools; these will entail everything from mapping locations of Wisconsin mines to measuring the use and wear on local roads by the sand mining industry.

Figure 1. Sand grain size, shape, and coloring. (Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, "Frac sand in Wisconsin", 2012)

Frac sand mining is the process of extracting sand of a specific grain size and composition from the earth. Wisconsin is host to numerous deposits of well sorted sand. Sand from this region is high in silica content and has a round shape and uniform grain size. These characteristics make this type of sand ideal for its use in oil and gas extraction; the mining technique is called “hydrofracking.”

Hydrofracking is where a water and a chemical mixture are used to crack, or fracture, layers of hard rocks, such as granite, to reach previously untapped resources of oil and natural gas. The sand is inserted to hold open the fractures to allow the extraction of oil and gas (Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, "Frac sand in Wisconsin", 2012).

Many people confuse the two processes; the sand is extracted via traditional mining processes then inserted along with the water and chemicals to mine the oil and gas (Chase, Burchem, Golden, "12 Sandy GIFs: An animated guide to Wisconsin's frac sand rush", 2015).

Frac sand mining follows many of the same conventions as other non-ferrous mining operations. The mines are required to get permits, take appropriate responsibilities to prevent the release of waste materials and participate in a reclamation process for each mine (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, "Registering nonmetallic mineral deposits", 2015).

Location of Frac Sand Mines:

Figure 2. Wisconsin DNR map showing locations of frac sand mines. (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, "Locations of industrial sand mines and processing plants in Wisconsin", 2016)

Frac sand mining is located in middle to western Wisconsin. Figure 2 is a map displayed on the Wisconsin’s DNR website showing the locations of all active (Blue pins) and inactive (orange pins) mine sites. The Green pins show the locations of mines currently going under the process of reclamation. one can notice that the mine locations are clustered in the west-central portion of the state, this a literal reflection of the location for the most easily accessible sand of the correct grain shape and size. River and ocean/lake shore sands are less coveted due to the angular shape of the grains which makes them less useful for hydrofracking (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, "Registering nonmetallic mineral deposits", 2015).

Issues:

There are several issues regarding frac sand mining in Wisconsin. Some of these include regulation, mine reclamation, control of hazardous substances, maintaining safe drinking water in the surrounding area, monitoring particulates in the air, protecting abandoned boreholes (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, "Industrial sand mining", 2016). In addition, those located close to the mines deal with noise, pollution, damage to agricultural land, and health issues that the mining brings about (Schuessler, "Wisconsin locals fear dust from mines for fracking sand even as boom wanes", 2015). Many of these parties protest the inadequate laws and insufficient enforcement of laws that do exist (Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, "Frac Sand Mining").

Lastly, frac sand mining places strain on infrastructure such as roads and rail lines leading to disputes on repairs. This can cause tension between the sand companies and local governments (Chase, "As rail moves frac sand across Wisconsin landscape, new conflicts emerge", 2014) (Christenson, "Pepin County settles dispute over frac sand road-use agreement", 2015).

Sources

Chase, T. (2014, July 13). As rail moves frac sand across Wisconsin landscape, new conflicts emerge. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://wisconsinwatch.org/2014/07/as-rail-moves-frac-sand-across-wisconsin-landscape-new-conflicts-emerge/

Chase, T., Berchem, J., & Golden, K. (2015, April 06). 12 Sandy GIFs: An animated guide to Wisconsin's frac sand rush. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://wisconsinwatch.org/2015/04/12-sandy-gifs-an-animated-guide-to-wisconsins-frac-sand-rush/

Christenson, J. (2015, August 17). Pepin County settles dispute over frac sand road-use agreement. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/pepin-county-settles-dispute-over-frac-sand-road-use-agreement/article_1b5d40e5-6d80-584e-897c-359b09cebdda.html

Schuessler, R. (2015, November 6). Wisconsin locals fear dust from mines for fracking sand even as boom wanes. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/11/6/wisconsin-locals-fear-frac-sand-mining.html

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (2015, April 15). Registering nonmetallic mineral deposits FAQ. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/Deposit.html

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (2016, January 7). Locations of industrial sand mines and processing plants in Wisconsin. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/ISMMap.html

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (2016, July 06). Industrial sand mining. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/mines/sand.html  

Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. (2012). Frac sand in Wisconsin. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://wcwrpc.org/frac-sand-factsheet.pdf

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. (n.d.). Frac Sand Mining. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://conservationvoters.org/issues/frac-sand-mining/