IS THERE A SANDSTORM IN WISCONSINS FUTURE?

IS THERE A SANDSTORM IN WISCONSINS FUTURE?

(WDNR Silica Study, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lee Berquist, Lonnie Baker)

(Center for Disease Control, Oil and Gas Business, Siemens Industry)

(Business-Week, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)

(Guide to Preparing Reclamation, Frazer Chronicle)

I guess it doesn’t matter what man is trying to pull from the ground, he inevitable sees dollar bills to be made…..I think it’s inbreed into a Capitalist society. It was reported yesterday in an article that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about a sand mining company in western Wisconsin being fined $200,000 for pollution and operational problems that began in 2011 and led to massive amounts of mud flowing onto nearby properties and into a stream.

The company, Preferred Sand LLC which is based out of Radnor, Pennsylvania was founded in 2007 by a group headed by the company’s current Chief Executive Officer, Michael G. O’Neill. The company engages in the acquisition and operation of industrial mineral assets. It processes and produces silica and frac sand, as well as proppants, (propping agents) and is involved in related logistics management operations.

Few people have ever heard of fracking sand, induced hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracturing, which is commonly called fracking. It is a technique in which typically water is mixed with sand and chemicals, and the mixture is injected at high pressure into a wellbore to create small fractures in rock formations where hopefully natural gas or petroleum products are.

Of course the mixture of water, sand and chemicals can cause a whole host of problems with regards to ground water, pollution and even earthquakes. After the initial interjection of the water, sand, and chemicals are introduced into a rock formation, the sand proppants holds the fracture open once the rock achieves equilibrium.

The court action and monetary fines levied by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen against Preferred Sand isn’t the company’s first legal problems, there has been other court activity involving the company in Nebraska and Minnesota. Of course environmental groups have come forward to voice their concerns about ground water in particular, and the environment in general.

SOME SOBERING STATISTICS

The fracturing process in the quest to exploit material in the search for natural gas, petroleum, uranium-bearing solutions, or brine water may migrate to the well. Hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, and the small grains of proppants, (sand or aluminum oxide) do their work…..and hold the fracture open. The technique is common in wells for shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, and coal seam gas and hard rock wells.

All of this technical jargon, for me, is a pain in the butt, pretty much because I understand little of it, but I figured to do an honest job in my blogging, I should include some technical stuff. What it means is that a well derrick which stands 40 or so feet high has a 24 inch wellbore attached to it, and drills, (with pressure) into the earth to depths as deep as 10 to 15,000 feet with this sludgy liquid inside the wellbore. When they encounter the desired product, the sand holds the fractures open.

There typically are hundreds if not thousands of gas or petroleum wells in the field, and each can use as much as 3 million pounds of sand, and millions of gallons of water, and the accompanying chemicals that are used in the operation.

As with any mining process, there is a degree of degradation to the surrounding land, and in today’s society, that element of the operation can be unacceptable. No matter the type of mining, no matter the area, and no matter the proximity of the civilian population, mining company’s slog ahead with their operations in an almost devil may care attitude.

This attitude has been the great detractor to the mining industry, and I must tell you, most assessed monetary fines are bargained down by 50 to 75% of the original amount. Most mining companies simply look at monetary fines as part of their business expense and rely on an almost plea-bargaining system with federal agencies to lower the size of the penalties.

In the past two decades gas drilling has increased by a total of 14 times throughout the United States. Given the vast shale formations throughout the country drilling will continue for at least a decade. With this increase, the frac sand business, which has emerged almost overnight, will continue to grow, and be almost unregulated…..at least by the federal government.

There are 92 sand mines, some with processing facilities, and an additional 46 sites that either are proposed, or are being studied as potential sand mines. State regulators seem to be changing on the fly with regards to regulating the industry, which is never a good thing.    

RECLAMATION

Reclaiming the land after the sand mining companies are gone is the final step of a mining operation, and it can be a very tricky, and in many cases an almost cost prohibitive project. Sand mining expansion will become a problem for the environment as well as the civilian population.

I’ve never been to a sand mine operation, but I’ll bet every one of the former sights will wear the scars of the industry and the failed reclamation attempts. I base my opinion on my visits to hundreds of defunct iron mines, and you can see, even without knowing what had been there, that there had been an unfriendly environmental operation.

The fracking process has been around since 1949, and even though the process is more than 60 years in existence, the accompanying supply technology industries continue to evolve. From the process of sand mining, there undoubtedly will be many land owners who will make enough money to see the Promised Land, in their lifetimes.

Mining companies of all types are their own worst enemies, they habitually cut corners to save themselves money, and their bottom line mentality has proven time and again to be their Achilles heel. Inevitably the sand mining companies will make themselves an indispensable financial member of the community, whether through their tax dollars, their marketing programs that are aimed at their communities through Little League support, church, daycare and health clinic established, and their good neighbor policies.

I’ve seen it, mining companies will do anything to placate authority, environmental or civilian population, get ready Northwestern Wisconsin, you’re in for a hell-of-a ride.

HAVE A NICE DAY!