***Embargoed until 12:01 a.m. Central time
Sunday, March 3, 2013***
Mainbar (appears below): Frac sand industry faces DNR violations, warnings.1,400 words
Sidebar 1 (appears below): How to report a concern to DNR. 100 words
Sidebar 2 (appears below): New studies measure air, water impacts of frac sand mines. 675 words
Frac sand industry faces
DNR violations, warnings
Some companies ‘seem to put construction and production ahead of regulations,’ inspector says
By Kate Prengaman
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Nearly a fifth of Wisconsin’s 70 active frac sand mines and processing plants were cited for environmental violations last year, as the industry continued to expand at a rapid clip.
Violations included air pollution, starting construction without permits, and an accident at the Preferred Sands mine in Trempealeau County where a mudslide during a heavy rainstorm damaged a neighboring property.
In addition, the state Department of Natural Resources cranked out letters of noncompliance -- warnings to fix a problem before it becomes serious enough to merit a notice of violation -- at numerous facilities.
“Some of these companies should have known better,” said Marty Sellers, a DNR air management engineer.
“They seem to put construction and production ahead of regulations.”
Usually, Sellers said, the DNR expects 90 percent of companies in a regulated industry to comply with rules on their own. But in his visits to a dozen frac sand facilities, Sellers encountered the opposite pattern, and he sent letters of noncompliance to 80 to 90 percent of the sites.
DNR compliance officials acknowledged they have been stretched thin monitoring the sand industry, which has grown from a handful of sites five years ago to more than 100 permitted mining, processing or transport facilities today.
Wisconsin is the nation’s leading supplier of frac sand. The companies mine, sort and wash sand for use in hydraulic fracturing of shale to extract natural gas in other states.
Gov. Scott Walker has proposed two new DNR positions in his budget to monitor the sand industry, by shifting $223,000 from other parts of the budget.
The Wisconsin Industrial Sand Association, an industry trade group representing five large companies, applauded the move. Increasing staff will help to ensure that all mining companies operate according to state laws, the group said in a press release.
Citizens aided enforcement
Dust generated the most community complaints about frac sand operations in 2012, but most violations involved stormwater permits.
DNR environmental enforcement specialist Deb Dix said some of the violations resulted from residents’ complaints. Perhaps because sand mines have provoked so much controversy, citizens have been alert to problems, Dix said — more alert than for similar problems that can be caused by road work or other construction.
In response to complaints in the Frac Sand Sentinel, an e-newsletter for anti-mining activists, that the DNR was slow in responding to a runoff concern, a DNR stormwater specialist wrote in, explaining that the extra vigilance was helpful.
“I do greatly appreciate any and all photos and reports,” Ruth King wrote. “It is precisely because I am only a half-time employee and cannot be everywhere at all times that we really really need concerned citizens to be our eyes and ears.”
In neighboring Minnesota, where Democrats are in control of the legislature and governor’s office, a Senate committee approved a bill on Tuesday calling for a statewide moratorium on new mine development and a study of the industry’s environmental impacts.
But in Wisconsin, where Republicans are in control, the DNR decided last year that existing non-metallic mining regulations were sufficient to handle the frac sand boom, and politicians appear unlikely to move toward more regulation.
The proposed two new DNR positions would most likely be focused on mines’ compliance with air quality regulations, said Tom Woletz, the DNR’s point person for frac sand.
“Many Wisconsinites have the impression of the DNR as a big strong agency, but it’s not what it was 10 years ago,” said PilarGerasimo, a journalist and environmental activist in Dunn County. “They are understaffed and have not been able to keep up.”
Gerasimo said that she worries that under the Walker administration, the DNR is doing more to “work with” businesses that are potential polluters and spending less time tracking potential problems.
Air regulator Sellers said he only inspects large operations that dry sand, a process that poses the greatest risk of dust pollution, on a rotating basis and when mines are testing emissions for permitting purposes. The air quality compliance staff doesn’t inspect small mines regularly unless someone complains about them.
Two significant runoff incidents
The DNR referred two May 2012 frac sand mine violations that caused significant environmental damage to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The agency said it is reviewing the cases.
At the Preferred Sands mine in Trempealeau County, the mudslide that flooded a neighbor's property during a heavy storm violated its stormwater permit. The Minnesota-based mining company also had multiple violations of its air quality permit.
Todd Murchison, the Preferred Sands regional manager, has said that the company had learned a lot from the accident, changed its policies and was cooperating with the DNR.
At the Burnett County mine owned by Minnesota-based Interstate Energy Partners, a leak in a holding pond let silt-laden water leak into the St. Croix River for a few days before it was noticed by a hiker.
“A release like that could have been devastating to wetlands or the St. Croix if left uncorrected,” Dix said about the leak. “The regulations are there to protect the environment -- from catastrophic events and ongoing damage.”
Three additional companies were fined in 2012.
Last March, the DNR received a complaint about muddy water in a stream and found a leaking holding pond at the Panther Creek Sand mine in Clark County. According to Dix, the damage was minor and the company fixed it right away; it was fined $464.
Bear Creek Cranberry in Monroe County paid $868 for serious problems with its environmental protection plan.
The Chippewa Sand Company notified county officials in April that a pond holding wastewater overflowed into a drainage area, eventually soaking into the soil. Dan Masterpole, the Chippewa County conservationist, said the company was fined $2,795 and made changes to prevent similar problems in the future.
Runoff problems are more likely in the spring as snow melts and mines resume operations, Masterpole said, so Chippewa County has scheduled inspections for this spring.
Nine companies that received violations faced no fines, Dix said. Their violations were largely either paperwork problems or other easily corrected issues.
Few air pollution violations so far
Dust pollution —a potential health concern as well as a nuisance —attracted the most attention from citizens, but few sand mines received serious air quality violations.
Companies monitor dust levels to protect workers. They spray water on exposed soil and use specialized equipment like dust collectors and covered conveyors to prevent pollution, Woletz said.
Trouble occurs if that equipment fails.
That’s what happened at the Pattison Sand transport facility in Prairie du Chien. Sellers received lots of calls about dust coming from the portable system used to load sand from trucks to train cars.
Between his busy schedule and the fact that the portable facility comes and goes, it was almost a year before Sellers observed the operation in action. The callers were correct: He saw dust escaping from the area where the truck unloaded sand.
He also noted a problem that day with the conveyor loading to the railcar. Sellers watched the operator try to fix the seal without success, and then continue to transfer the sand.
He wrote Pattison Sand, an Iowa-based company, a letter of noncompliance, warning it to fix the problem and improve its dust prevention protocols or face fines.
‘Growing pains’ of new industry?
Dix said some of the recent violations were a result of the frac sand boom and new people moving into the industry who were not familiar with the rules and regulations.
However, Sellers said he has also seen problems from experienced companies.
He wrote Connecticut-based Unimin a letter of noncompliance for starting construction at its Tunnel City mine without proper permits. And neighbors of the U.S. Silica mine in Sparta alerted him of dust problems during construction work by the Maryland-based company.
Resident Gerasimo said the laws aren’t tough enough on mining companies who take a lax approach to environmental protection.
“For frac-sand mining interests, the risks of being held accountable are low and temporary. The fines are meaningless in relation to both the potential profits and damages in question,” Gerasimo said. “Two new agents isn't going to change that.”
DNR’s Dix, however, said the agency expects to see fewer violations in the future.
“Sometimes, it’s just the growing pains of an industry,” Dix said. “Usually, once we catch them, they get it corrected, and we’re done.”
The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism () collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
SIDEBAR 1
How to report a concern to DNR
Tips from residents alerted the Department of Natural Resources to several frac sand mining environmental violations. The DNR encourages people to report suspected environmental, wildlife, or recreational violations. You can make a confidential report by calling 1-800-TIP-WDNR (1-800-847-9367), or emailing
Deb Dix, an environmental enforcement officer, said that the most useful reports included specific location information and as much information as possible to aid the staff who follow up on concerns. Although you can leave an anonymous report, Dix said that it can help if tipsters leave a call-back number, for follow-up.
SIDEBAR 2
New studies measure air,
water impacts of frac sand mines
By Kate Prengaman
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Competing studies are under way to assess air pollution from Wisconsin’s frac sand industry, and the author of one said current state law isn’t protecting people well enough.
A separate study, meanwhile, will examine the impact of frac sand mines on water.
Silica dust from sand mining is a health concern because particles that are small enough to be inhaled can damage the lungs of people exposed long-term.
“We don’t want to unnecessarily raise fears or anxieties, but there are more than 100 facilities and the DNR is not taking an active role on monitoring small particulate,” said Crispin Pierce, a professor of environmental health at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The state Department of Natural Resources requires air monitors. But the law doesn’t say what kind, and Pierce said monitoring of smaller particles would provide better information on potential health risks.
The agency has begun to encourage new mines to install small particulate monitors, known as PM2.5, but it can’t require older ones to replace their current PM10 monitors.
“The monitors are a tool, but it’s not like a smoke detector,” said Tom Woletz, the frac sand point person at the DNR. “There is no perfect monitor.”
Pierce and his students have been taking snapshots of PM2.5 pollution at several mines. Their data show that the EOG Resources processing plant in Chippewa Falls has exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits, he said.
But the DNR has its own concerns about Pierce’s methods.
Pierce and his students are only sampling at one location for each mine. Yet farming, driving on dirt roads, and other activities also contribute to ambient dust levels, so the current regulations call for comparing data from both sides of a facility to see if it is to blame.
In the meantime, EOG hired a particle pollution expert to run its own study. That study uses
modified EPA-approved methods to test ambient air quality at the PM4 level. This data can be directly compared to the well-studied silica exposure limits for workers that are measured inside plants or factories with PM4 monitors.
So far, Woletz said, EOG’s preliminary data show no difference between background dust levels and the air downwind from the frac sand mines.
Water use study under way
Concerns about sand mines’ overall water usage have prompted a rare detailed investigation of groundwater quantity in Chippewa County.
Frac sand mines use a lot of water -- millions of gallons a month -- to process the sand and keep dust down. They typically install high-capacity wells similar to those used for farm irrigation.
Right now, the DNR permits and regulates each high-capacity well individually — without regard for how much water others nearby are using.
The plan is to study the cumulative impacts of groundwater pumping by both mining and irrigation, said Dan Masterpole, the land conservationist for Chippewa County.
The five-year study will coordinate efforts by the county, the DNR, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Wisconsin Geologic Natural History Survey, frac sand companies and local farmers. Scientists will use a network of groundwater monitoring wells and stream gauges to model the region’s water system.
That requires studying the behavior of the groundwater, the relationship between the groundwater and the surface water, how much water is being used, and where it’s going, according to Masterpole.
Such time-consuming data collection makes projects like this rare.
The project will also model how mining’s re-shaping of the landscape will affect how precipitation recharges the groundwater.
“The study will provide all parties with the best information for informed decision making,” Masterpole said. “Water conservation is important to them (the mining companies), because pumping water costs so much.”
Mike Fienen, a hydrologist with the USGS, said the stream gauges have an added monitoring benefit.
Last summer, the data gave an early warning that wastewater had flowed over a holding pond and into a stream. The mine’s operator was alerted and quickly fixed the problem.
“That’s one of the values of the gauging. I can’t stress that enough,” Fienen said. “There’s data. With that information, the regulators and mines can cooperate and respond to concerns.”
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