WI Frac Sand Mining Violations On The Rise, Journal Sentinel Finds

I recommend Lee Berguist's authoritative piece today about the growing number of environmental problems caused by rapidly-expanding and minimally-regulated Wisconsin frac sand mine operations.

Many of the cases involve water pollution — where vast piles of sand, sediment and dirt have washed off properties, often after heavy rains, and contaminated waterways. 

Since November 2011, the Department of Natural Resources has issued 20 notices of violation to 19 companies, according to agency records. The notice is a formal letter alleging a violation of state environmental regulations. 

Five companies alone violated their storm-water permits in April and May, the DNR says, when rain and melting snow washed debris into streams and wetlands in Barron and Trempealeau counties.

Though these mines present accelerating threats to the Wisconsin environment, the Walker administration has chosen not to expand the state legal or health-monitoring framework for controlling frac sand mining, leaving in place a patchwork of local controls never intended to deal with scores of new mines that have appeared in just the last few years.

One package of reforms went nowhere a few months ago.

More information, from Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, here.