Moratorium Expires

Winona County's moratorium on Silica Sand mining expired on May 1st. With the information gathered, the county's Planning and Environmental Services committee has been able to develop a comprehensive plan for the entire silica sand mining process, including a detailed application process for both new and currently operating businesses to be approved by the county. Several completed application packets are expected in the next few days. Silica sand is used in the fracking process as both a separation agent (splitting the rock) and a porous filter for the extraction of the natural fuels.

Fracking and Wildlife

The construction of roads, drilling pads and pipelines for thousands of drilling operations are adding up and impacting rural communities and affecting America’s landscape. The clearing of thousands of acres of forests is leading to reduced and fragmented habitats and other potentially life-threatening impacts for wildlife.By destroying the habitats of plants and animals, we are making changes to our ecosystem, many of which can not be undone. In the U.S. alone, over 1.2 million previously drilled wells have been Fracture stimulated, and another 300,000 are set to be drilled in 2012. This amounts to major damage to various ecosystems, and changes in the atmosphere as well through leaked methane making it to the surface. Another problem is the transportation of the toxic "used fluids" from the fracturing process. There have been 5 recorded spills since 2009, 4 on public roads and 1 at a drilling site. Luckily none of those documented cases caused major damage, but with the growing amount of wells and therefore fluid being transported there is an ever present danger of major environmental impact.

Fracking and Water

One of the major dangers of Fracking is contamination of groundwater sources. According to the gas companies, there is no risk of groundwater contamination for a number of reasons. First, most Fracture wells are located miles below the bottom of the water table, they are said to be drilled into impermeable rocks, and the drills are cased with steel and concrete casing. However, it is hard to tell whether or not there are flaws or failures in the current system, and sonar testing for impermeable rock is not always 100%. There have been isolated documented cases of home/landowners being able to light their tap water on fire. While these instances are extreme, there are major concerns as to how the process affects groundwater. These concerns are both environmental and health related. Many bottled water companies have begun promoting the "purity" of bottled water as the only safe alternative to possibly contaminated water. However this poses its own set of problems. There is the added increase of waste in landfills, as efforts to promote recycling often fall short, as well as the fact that many water companies take their water directly from the tap, rather than their 'ultra pure' sources. There are multiple research projects currently being conducted to find the best ways to properly drill with the minimal negative impact.

The Public Relations Side

Many companies are having a hard time to positively promote the Fracking process, to both investors/customers, and possible land owners above wells. With the many possible issues that have come to surface, companies like Exxon Mobile and Chesapeake Energy are looking for alternative ways to positively promote their business.“I don’t think ExxonMobil has faced an environmental or regulatory or political challenge as material to their business as they do now with fracking, certainly not since Valdez,"said  Steve Coll, a chronicler of Exxon, to POLITICO in a recent interview.

“They haven’t bet the house, but they’ve made a pretty substantial investment in fracking,” he added. “And I do think that the industry and ExxonMobil in a way is in denial a little bit about how communities view the risks, the cost-benefit equation of fracking.”

One of the main things that these companies are trying to do when convincing the average americans about the positives of fracking is rather than mass produced public media announcements, they are sending representatives to hold town hall meetings and speak directly with community members.

It is important that these companies make every attempt to show the world of their good intentions and practices, as major financial pieces are in the balance. For example Exxon Mobile spent $31 Billion to acquire a texas based fracking company that is considered to be State of the Art in terms of technology.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75756.html#ixzz1tjy8nock

Frac Sand Q&A

If you would like to understand more about the frac-sand business in Winona, you can Click Here

More news from winona!

Here is more information about protesting that happened today in Winona, as well as information from last night's City Board Meeting! View the video and article here!

Fracking in Winona

The article provided in the link poses some of the issues and solutions on Sand-Frac mining right here in Winona County! Pretty interesting to see it happen in the backyard!Click here to read more!!