“White Lung” like Black Lung is a debilitating (permanent) condition

From the Message by Patricia Popple, Frac Sand Sentinel # 428, January 30, 2023

Doug Wood, who lives with his wife, Dawn, in Michigan, just south and west of Detroit, is besiged with a continually developing silica mine right next door to his home. Silica dust is carcinogenic and has known to be so for many years. It settles in the deep lung and in other body parts, unable to be released in anyway due to the small glasslike particulates that are a part of the geological formation.

While Michigan may have a standard set for respirable crystalline silica dust, it seems there is no enforcement by state protection agencies in residential areas. Who is responsible? Doug and his wife have worked endlessly it seems to get someone in the regulatory agencies and mining industry, to install air quality monitoring, and yet nothing has been achieved. Neighbors seem to be unconcerned about the presence of a mining operation that continues to spew dangerous dust into the air without concern for the residential areas that exist around the silica mine. There are other problems also associated with this operation including truck traffic and noise, but the dust produced is horrific and dangerous.

While it could take 20 years for silicosis to develop in the deep lung, it could take less. The glass like particulates don’t seem to be much different than asbestos which is also a known carcinogen.

Take a look at the video at the site and see for yourself the problems that the Wood family members are dealing with. They need help and support from the state and neighbors and Michigan’s protective agencies and organizations to spread this information and their concerns and more than that, take action.

Fractracker has played a role in the production of this video, and there are other videos in this series about the problems faced when regulatory agencies aren’t much concerned about the health, safety, and welfare of people and their offspring living near silica or other mines that bring the potential for grave health conditions to a neighborhood. Also, look for them on YouTube.

Please click on the video link here:
https://youtu.be/T6PSl9Cdhvw

I know that Wisconsinites are aware what the Wood Family is facing, but there are others of you in other locations who may be in similar situations. The industry must tighten its regulations, states and local governmental officials and groups much enforce. Residents and others must get involved by speaking out and by attending meetings of local and state agencies who can make a difference through rules, comprehensive plans, ordinances, zoning, and action.

>>> And by the way, register to VOTE in your communities at upcoming primary and general elections. It is critical that everyone get to the polls or participate in voting via absentee ballot. You can make a difference by researching candidates who are responsive to people facing environmental and health issues in your communties across the nation. Make a difference by exercising your right at your nearest voting location. VOTE!

>>> Welcome to the Frac Sand Sentinel, a newsletter highlighting resource links, news media accounts, blog posts, correspondence, observations and opinions gathered regarding local actions on, and impacts of, the developing frac sand mining and processing industries.

Destructive Frack Sand Mining in WI, MN, IL, etc.

From an Issue by Patricia Popple, Editor, Frac Sand Sentinel, December 1, 2021

First hand experience with silicosis and respirable crystalline silica dust is not too common of an event with lawmakers, politicians and governmental officials and others when it comes to issuing permits and sanctioning industries wishing to blast out and mine silica. A Michigan friend sent this video of Michigan Senator Tom Ward as he tells his personal story on YouTubeabout his experiences with silica and dust dangers.

He feels the need for greater oversight and avoiding practices that create the harms done by some industries which are polluting the air we breathe. He feels additional health and safety measures in the industry with regulatory standards would not only improve the health of workers but also that of people living near silica dust producing industries.

https://youtu.be/z-xqWByL_ew

The old film on silicosis entitled “Stop Silicosis” produced by the federal government and the work of many researchers including Frances Perkins, Secretary of the Department of Labor is still available for viewing. It is well worth taking the time to see this film produced in 1938 as 83 years have passed since silicosis has been identified and many states including Wisconsin have not studied nor listed silica dust as a carcinogen. Neither have they introduced standards for respirable crystalline silica dust. While appeals from citizens in Northwest Wisconsin were made at the onset of silica mining in Wisconsin, the rationale listed by the Department of Natural Resources indicated that the priority for study of this chemical was lowest on the list of concerns and that it would be too expensive to do.

Take a look at the film on YouTube. I think you will enjoy seeing this old film but also determining how relevant it is to practices still being used today…83 years later!

Stop Silicosis (US DOL 1938) : US Dept. of Labor 1938 : Free Streaming : Internet Archive

https://archive.org/details/StopSilicosis

In 1938, the US Department of Labor released this film aimed at preventing the occupational disease of silicosis. It was produced in response to the national outcry over the death of more than 500 workers at Union Carbide’s Hawks Nest Tunnel project near Gauley Bridge West Virginia in the early 1930s. That overexposure to silica dust caused this deadly disease had been known for more than 100 years, but many employers ignored workplace dust control methods. Sadly, almost 70 years later, hundreds of workers each year still develop this preventable lung disease. The current OSHA exposure limit for silica dust is based on science from the mid 1960s. Most of the information and prevention measures in this film are still relevant today.

>>> FRAC SAND SENTINEL | 561 SUMMIT AVENUE, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

Extensive frac sand mining is damaging thousands of acres

Public Announcement from FracTracker, Public Lab, & Save the Hills Alliance, February 8, 2021

“Undermined,” is an audio story featuring interviews with three residents impacted by the Hi-Crush Mine in Augusta, Wisconsin.

Christine Yellowthunder, Tom Pearson, and Terence O’Donahue give first hand accounts of their struggles for clean air and water, healthy farmland, and sustainable livelihoods amidst broken promises from frac sand companies.

Listen here: “UNDERMINED: VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINES OF FRAC SAND MINING”

The perils of fracking are well documented, but the impacts from mining frac sand are less widely known. In this OpenHour, we speak with the people fighting for clean air and water, fertile farmland, & sustainable livelihoods in fenceline communities from across the midwest.

Fracking is an extractive technology that has spread across massive landscapes and unzoned, small towns in the USA as industry has purchased up land rights to conduct operations. Mining for silica sand, use of chemicals, and local water all are pumped into the ground to release small pockets of oil & gas. We will hear directly from community members who have been bringing their communities together to unite in the struggles for healthy homes and justice amidst broken promises from frac sand companies.

About Frac Sand Mining in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas, etc.

To learn more about frac sand mining, see FracTracker’s collection of aerial imagery, and explore the collection of articles and interactive maps, please visit our informational page below:

Get the Scoop on Frac Sand Mining

Frack Sand Book about Wisconsin

Book Release and Signing, October 24, 2018 — 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Fall Creek Public Library, 122 East Lincoln Avenue, Fall Creek, WI, 54742

Professor Tom Pearson will discuss how anthropological research was used in writing his book about the impact of frac sand mining on sense of place, community, and local democracy in our area.

THOMAS W. PEARSON is associate professor of anthropology and assistant director of the Honors College at UW–Stout. He is the author of When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community, published by the University of Minnesota Press. His writing has also appeared in several academic journals, including American Anthropologist, Cultural Anthropology, American Ethnologist, and Human Organization. He lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin.

This event is co-sponsored by the Fall Creek Public Library

Our book sales committee will have copies of “When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community” available for purchase at this event. Please join us for an autographing session following the presentation.

More info on this talk and Heather Swan’s talk on honeybees at the CF library are at:
cvbookfest.org

Thanks for your help! Eileen Immerman, CCC-WIS.COM

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See also from: Wisconsin Public Radio

“Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Community”

Minnesota Frac Sand Protest

Minnesota & Wisconsin Are Being Damaged By Surface Mines for Fracking Sand

Dear Friends:

Kudos to Johanna Rupprecht and Happy New Year to all her supporters in Winona County, MN and beyond!!!

We in Wisconsin appreciate the model you have set for the Midwestern States!

May there be more thoughtful hardworking people come to the forefront to work on this issue in the coming years! 2017 must be a time for combined efforts on the part of many community organizations joining forces for the benefit and good of the whole!

When Johanna Rupprecht visited Chippewa Co., Wisconsin a few years ago to view and learn more about the developing frac sand facilities and to take photos of the devastating impact of this industry on the land, the air and the water, I was impressed with her determination and grit and the ability to take on a serious issue.

Many residents in Chippewa County were concerned about the unknowns of this industry but few city, town, county and state officials were prepared or even concerned about setting too many restrictions or even studying the possibilities of limitations. Citizens spoke but were not heard! The industry in Wisconsin continues to expand.

Johanna’s efforts are being recognized in her home county as a leader in the Land Stewardship Project located throughout Minnesota. She sought out appropriate legal assistance that recognized that mining, processing, trans-load and transport of frac sand could be banned legally and using her skills and abilities as well as people skills worked many long hours with many people in Winona County to make it happen. 

Read all about it!

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/year-in-review-rupprecht-leads-charge-to-ban-frac-sand/article_b0751ad0-4859-5d03-9274-4ab050904044.html

Sincerely yours, Pat Popple, Save The Hills Alliance, Inc., S6650 County Road G, Augusta, WI 54722  [sunnyday5@charter.net] 

See also:  WWW.CCC-WIS.COM  for additional information

DS Frac Sand Mine, Boomer, Wisconsin

Presentation to Chippewa County’s Land Conservation & Forestry Department monthly meeting on January 20, 2016

My name is Johnne Smalley. I own and pay taxes on land in Wheaton Township in Chippewa County, Wisconsin.  I am here today to find out what Chippewa County envisions for its future.

I have read Chippewa County’s Comprehensive Plan, but I don’t see the county following it. Page 173, Section 6.4 states:

Goal 1 – Maintain the physical condition, biodiversity, ecology, and environmental functions of the landscape, including its capacity for flood storage, groundwater recharge, water filtration, plant growth, ecological diversity, wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration.

Goal 2 – Maintain the capacity of the land to support productive forests and agricultural working lands to sustain food, fiber, and renewable energy production.

How many acres of land have been removed from productive forests and agricultural working lands to support frac sand mines owned by and operated for the financial benefit of people that are not from our area, often not even from our state, and sometimes, not even from our country?

How have all these frac sand mines maintained the physical condition, biodiversity, ecology, and environmental functions of the landscape, including its capacity for flood storage, groundwater recharge, water filtration, plant growth, ecological diversity, wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration?

What I’m seeing is a bunch of eyesores scarring our land, devastation of forested hillsides, businesses that were dependent on tourist trade closing, increased costs for agricultural businesses dependent on rail transport of fertilizers into the area and corn out of the area, decreased wildlife habitat resulting in increased crop destruction as the wildlife relocate into adjacent cropland, and tons of colloidal clay from their ponds washing into our trout streams and ruining the trout habitat. There are toxic levels of silica 2.5 dust in the air which affect our health and probably animal health. In other localities near frac sand facilities, veterinarians have noticed increased fertility problems including a significant lower conception rate and higher rate of stillborn and weak calves. There have been similar reports by farmers near mine sites in Chippewa County. Coincidence?

I’m also seeing a tremendous increase in the number of homes for sale around these sites and at greatly reduced prices. Some people have given up and just walked away from their home to move elsewhere.

Now I am seeing the approval of another reclamation permit for a 1300+ acre frac sand mine, processing plant, and trans-load station. This permit has been granted to a company with a known history of disregarding DNR regulations that protect our groundwater from contamination.

I have also read a good bit of The Chippewa County Code of Ordinances.

The Chippewa County Code of Ordinances Chapter 30, Sec. 106 lines 741-744 states:

“Sec. 30-106. Permit denial. An application for a nonmetallic mining reclamation permit shall be denied if any of the factors specified in Wis. Admin. Code NR § 135.22 exist.

NR 135.22 Denial of application for reclamation permit, clearly states, “An application to issue a nonmetallic mining reclamation permit shall be denied if

(c) 1. The applicant, or its agent, principal or predecessor has, during the course of nonmetallic mining in Wisconsin within 10 years of the permit application or modification request being considered shown a pattern of serious violations of this chapter or of federal, state or local environmental laws related to nonmetallic mining reclamation.”

Northern Sands, LLC has more than 20 DNR violations of inappropriate exploratory borehole abandonments in Chippewa County. Leaving holes open can create a direct conduit for entry of contaminants to waters of the state and is a serious violation of ch. 281, Wisconsin Statutes and ch. NR812, Wis. Adm. Code. (Just ask anyone who has to drink water from an aquifer that has had liquid manure dumped down a hole into it).

The proposed post−mining land use given in 3.0 of the Howard Township Properties Nonmetallic Mine Reclamation Plan “include a combination of commercial and passive recreational uses….Approximately eighty-five percent of the site will be reclaimed as prairie grasslands: approximately fifteen percent of the area will be reclaimed as woodland.” The Chippewa County Land Conservation and Forest Management staff can explain better than I can that prairie grasslands are not the same as productive agricultural cropland that sustain food, fiber, and renewable energy production. (See goal 2 from Chippewa County’s Comprehensive Plan as quoted above.)

NR 135 also states, “The proposed post−mining land use shall be consistent with local land use plans.” In addition, State law Sec.66.1001. Wis. Stats. requires that local land use-related decisions be consistent with the goals and objectives of that community’s comprehensive plan. I am not seeing how taking more and more productive cropland and forest away to return it to native prairie “maintains the capacity of the land to support productive forests and agricultural working lands to sustain food, fiber, and renewable energy production”.

I would also like to question why Chippewa County is not requiring an independent expert or consultant to do the monitoring and reporting of this mine site with reimbursement costs paid back to the county by Northern Sands. This permit allows Northern Sands to do their own checking and reporting. Their history has shown how well they have done that in the past. On multiple occasions, their actions and reports have been fabricated and falsely reported to both the Howard Town Board and the Wisconsin DNR. Having county personnel or even state personnel checking to make sure the monitoring and reporting is being done accurately is just adding to the taxpayers’ burden. With Northern Sands history, they will need close oversight and this cost should fall back onto Northern Sands—not the taxpayers.

An agency-designated consultant with recognized experience in the areas of financial assurance and reclamation should also be required to evaluate any financial assurance given by Northern Sands with the costs incurred paid by Northern Sands. Reclamation Surety Bonds for other mining endeavors have proved inadequate in the past. Repeatedly, the Surety Bonds have been for inadequate amounts. They may cover the cost of reclamation as outlined, but usually fail to cover any problems that may occur—especially the cost of re-working an area where reclamation failed and the cost of pollution clean-up. Also, there is a history of Surety Bond issuers failing when it comes time for the actual reclamation. In some instances there has been a close tie between the surety bond company and the mine owner.

In conclusion, I would like to repeat my question of how the Chippewa County envisions its future and how its actions in permitting these frac sand mines support this vision.

Thank you.   Johnne Smalley, Wheaton Township, Chippewa County, Wisconson

Source:  Frac Sand Sentinel, Special Issue, January 20, 2016

Address: Save The Hills Alliance, 12568 44th Avenue, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

Extensive background information, photographs and updates are posted by the Concerned Chippewa Citizens and by the Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy of New York State.

PM-2.5 Airborne Particulates Near Frac Sand Operations

By Kristin Walters, Jeron Jacobson, Zachary Kroening, and Crispin Pierce, PhD, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Abstract

The rapid growth of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas extraction in the U.S. has led to 135 active “frac” sand mines, processing plants, and rail transfer stations in Wisconsin. Potential environmental health risks include increased truck traffic, noise, ecosystem loss, and groundwater, light, and air pollution. Emitted air contaminants include fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and respirable crystalline silica. Inhalation of fine dust particles causes increased mortality, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and lung cancer. In the authors’ pilot study, use of a filter-based ambient particulate monitor found PM-2.5 levels of 5.82 to 50.8 micro-grams per cubic meter in six 24-hour samples around frac sand mines and processing sites. Enforcement of the existing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency annual PM2.5 standard of 12 μg/m3 is likely to protect the public from silica exposure risks as well. PM2.5 monitoring around frac sand sites is needed to ensure regulatory compliance, inform nearby communities, and protect public health. 

See the full report here:
http://files.ctctcdn.com/e5446506501/99b2f2d3-fb0f-437d-b362-32f62bc4e360.pdf

Conclusion

With rapidly increasing frac sand mining, processing, transportation, and use in hydraulic fracturing, health departments and elected officials face unanswered questions about potential health risks. This research, together with other data of a similar nature we have collected, is suggestive of an increase of ambient PM2.5 levels as a result of these activities. We propose the establishment of longer-term PM2.5 monitoring with both direct reading and FRM particulate samplers, as well as silica- specific monitoring efforts, to ensure regulatory compliance, inform nearby communities, and protect public health.

Source: Journal of Environmental Health, Volume 78, Number 4, pp. 8 – 12, November 2015

See details on the frac sand industry in Wisconsin at:
http://www.ccc-wis.com

Informative Work of Art

The DCS Frac Sand Poster is Here, Incredibly Informative, Work of Art

Letter from Barb Arrindell, Director, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, June 1, 2015

Frac sand mining companies come at local communities like a runaway bulldozer going 100 mph. – Ric Zarwell, Allamakee County Protectors

“Frac Sand, Why Worry…” is an educational folding poster that summarizes in easy-to grasp-form the nature and impacts of frac sand mining and ways in which the public can act to put the brakes on it.

This project was designed with a graphic arts team of advanced students and their teacher at Messiah College, and was all done over one semester. With a lot of time and effort invested and the students really responding to the material, what their teacher thinks is a possible award winner has been hammered out in a very short time. I worked intensively with them – having filed a grant proposal with their college’s DesignAsService program to get this graphics help, but also working with Pat Popple (Chipewa Concerned Citizens), Robert Nehman and Ric Zarwell (Allamakee County Protectors) and Ted Auch (FracTracker.org in Ohio) and others as well as my own research, to have the content be both ample and accurate. For DCS, this frac sand poster is another effort to help our fellow citizens, and foster a precautionary approach to the Commons.

Barb Arrindell, Director, DCS, P.O. Box 147, Milanville, PA 18443

From the poster: Frac Sand — Why Worry?
(See the full poster for more information, including what you can do.)

As a vital part of the full cycle of fossil fuel mining, frac sand is the proppant that holds the induced fractures open for the gas or oil to flow when the pressure is released. According to research from The FracTracker Alliance, the average horizonal shale gas well is currently using 4,300-5,300 tons with demand increasing by 344 tons per year as the wells are drilled longer.

WHY WORRY… The essential frac sand is obtained by strip mining, which leaves behind it a range of devastation from lunar landscapes similar to mountaintop removal in the case of surface operations, to destruction of vital aquifers in the case of subsurface mines, and water contamination (ex. Rockwood Quarry, Newport, MI). As is evident in the experience of Wisconsin and other states in which frac sand mining has already progressed, the list of health, safety, economic, and environmental problems caused is devastating. To start mining operations before essential controls could be put in place for this entirely new industry, mining companies have financed propaganda campaigns that have overwhelmed township and county officials lacking the knowledge of the industry required to make foresightful decisions on behalf of those they represent.

As the frac sand mining industry proceeds without extremely tight controls, the degradation it is causing could well exceed all other damages since white settlement; and the social fabric, tax burden, and quality of life, and health in rural communities is being negatively impacted, perhaps for decades, if not forever.

Contact DCS to get your hard copy of the poster. Donations to support this work are greatly appreciated.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Seven Frac Sand Train Cars Jump Over

Fracking Sand Mining in MN and WI has Become Extreme, Damaging, and Dangerous

From an Article by Taylor Chase, WisconsinWatch.org, February 10, 2015

Our in-depth stories since 2011are on our frac sand project page.

A derailed train outside of Uniontown, Penn. spilled frac sand within six feet of a residential home. A former University of Pittsburgh public health dean said if he lived there, he would consider moving. <Pittsburgh Post Gazette January 22, 2015> < See video here:  http://youtu.be/Qomm_mg9on0 >

After several months, Houston County, Minn.’s planning commission has finally approved an ordinance on frac sand mining that will go next to the county board. Chairman Dan Griffin said this final version of the ordinance strikes the right balance between protecting citizens from potential impact while allowing the county to get some of the economic benefit. <The Caledonia Argus January 27, 2015>

Frac sand mining opponents throughout Minnesota have been calling out government bodies and officials recently. In St. Paul, with help from the Land Stewardship Project, residents protested an informational meeting for not allowing public participation. And in Houston County, a county board member questioned the propriety of closed-door meetings, while a longtime resident complained, “I hope one of these new mines opens up next to you.”  <PostBulletin.com andChannel 8000 January 27, 2015>

After a two-year delay, Minnesota Sands LLC has restarted planning for a four-county-wide frac sand operation. The renewed effort was sparked again after the company delivered $130,450 to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board for an extensive environmental review, money the state had required two years ago when the operations were first proposed. < The Star Tribune February 4, 2015>

But enough about Minnesota. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has announced it will be moving forward with plans for a strategic analysis of the frac sand industry in the state. The department will begin with a public comment period throughout February and March. This comes after a statewide petition last fall from the nonprofit Madison-based law firm. < Midwest Environmental Advocates.WDIO January 28, 2015>

<< The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. >>

Photo: A conveyor pours crushed sand into a stockpile before it is washed and sorted by grain class size at Preferred Sands mine in Blair, WI.

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Hold leaders accountable, addend public hearing on February 18, 2015

From an Article by Jim and Cindy Hobelsberger / La Crescent Township, February 11, 2015

We want to remind residents of Houston County that your county board of commissioners is holding the last public hearing on the proposed mineral extraction and mining ordinance to address frac sand mining at 10 a.m. Wednesday, February 18th, in the commissioner’s room at the courthouse. If at all possible, please attend and voice your opinions on this important issue. Your commissioners need to hear what you want this decision to be.

If you’ve been following the development of the proposed ordinance, you are aware of the dysfunction, lack of credibility, and personal agendas that appear to be at work within our county government and are ultimately undermining our rights as citizens. We live in a democracy where our elected officials and appointed leaders are supposed to make decisions based on what their constituents want and what is in the best interest of all, not just a select few or worse yet, to support their personal biases.

If you have attended any planning commission or county board meetings, viewed the recordings of those meetings on the Houston County website (www.co.houston.mn.us) or had a discussion with some of the county commissioners, you quickly perceive there are certain individuals who demonstrate a strong intent to control the outcome of this decision and will not consider a ban on frac sand mining, regardless of what the people want. The term “dictatorship” comes to mind. If you haven’t been following or engaged in this issue, you need to do so now.

Contact your county commissioners and attend the public hearing. Based on our personal experience, we recommend contacting them as a group via email so they all get the same message and can hold each other accountable in their response. Make your voices heard and hold your elected leaders accountable to do their job.

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