Wisconsin Public Television’s Frederica Freyberg will talk with University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire public health professor Crispin Pierce about the results of his study on air quality at mines around the state.
Category: Frac Sand Rush
As supply meets demand, Wisconsin’s frac sand rush slows
The rapid growth in Wisconsin’s frac sand industry is slowing, thanks to lower prices and increased supply. The sand is still in demand, but people who expected that they could get rich quick on the state’s sandy soils may be disappointed.
Center reporter tapped for frac sand panels
Lately, reporter intern Kate Prengaman has been tapped as a resource on the issue of frac sand mining in Wisconsin.
Updated map: Frac sand rush slowing
The growth in Wisconsin’s frac sand industry appears to be slowing down, but the state now has 95 operating or permitted frac sand facilities.
Conference draws 50 frac sand protesters
More than 50 people gathered Monday to protest frac sand mining outside a conference on the silica sand resources of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Concerns about the health, safety, and environmental impacts of the sudden boom in new industrial sand mining facilities are shared by many across the Upper Midwest.
A sand plant by the numbers
[mappress] Main Story: Frac sand boom creates thousands of jobs Interactive Map: 2012 Frac Sand Facilities in Wisconsin The EOG Resources sand processing plant in Chippewa Falls is currently the largest such facility in North America. Here’s the EOG plant, by the numbers: $65 million Assessed value of the facility 78,000 Tons of storage capacity […]
Future of frac sand unclear
Main Story: Frac sand boom creates thousands of jobs Interactive Map: 2012 Frac Sand Facilities in Wisconsin What will the sand mining industry look like in Wisconsin in 30 years? Some of the small sites will be completely mined and reclaimed in a few years, according to permit applications, while most of the larger facilities […]
What makes a profitable sand mine site
If you want to make money mining sand, the first step is finding the right site.
Frac sand boom creates thousands of jobs
Currently, there are no official employment numbers for the state’s rapidly expanding frac sand industry. But the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, using job-site estimates developed by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, found that when existing mines and those being built are fully operating, the industry will employ about 2,780 people — a sizeable number given the state’s overall luckluster job picture.
Wisconsin frac sand sites double
Frac sand fever has hit much of west-central Wisconsin, catching residents and local governments by surprise when demand for sand suddenly soared and permit applications began to pour in. The number of Wisconsin frac sand mining operations has more than doubled in the past year.
Map: Frac sand mining in Wisconsin, October, 2012
Five years ago, Wisconsin only had a handful of industrial sand facilities. Over the past two years, the increased demand for frac sand drove explosive growth in the state’s sand industry.
Sidebar: How a sand mine dealt with its Karner blues
What one frac-sand mining company is doing to help protect Wisconsin’s endangered Karner blue butterfly.