Frac sand mining in recent years has started to become a major industry and issue in Wisconsin. Sand mining in Wisconsin goes back over a century of time, but frac sand mining is relatively new due to the cost effectiveness in use.
First off, frac sand is being used to remove natural gas and oil from wells. This process is called hydrofracking, fracking, or hydraulic fracturing. Oil and natural gas companies dig down into their wells and create cracks. The sand being used is called frac sand which is silica sand or quartz. Frac sand comes in when the cracks in the wells need to be expanded. Frac sand is mixed with water and is injected into the cracks at immensely high pressure. The sand opens up the cracks and keeps them open to make extraction of gas and oil much easier. Gas and oil wells are not operated in Wisconsin, only sand mines.
Frac sand or silica sand is the sand used in fracking. This sand must meet standards to be considered for fracking. The standards that the sand must be almost pure quartz, be of uniform size and shape, and be very strong. The sand is found mainly in glacial deposits and sandstone. Which both happen to be in abundance in Wisconsin. Mainly in Western Wisconsin with some in Eau Claire county. As of January 2012 there were 60 mining operations, 30 processing facilities operating or under construction, and 20 more being proposed.
The mining of sand comes in many different forms. But, most begin the same. In some occurrences top soil must be removed which done with heavy machinery. Once the soil is removed there are some steps that can be taken to extract the sand. The most common extraction method is using an extractor which is a construction vehicle. Some mines use blasting to make extraction much easier and quicker.
The concern from sand mining comes from the unknown. As early as 5 years ago frac sand mining was almost unheard of, but know it seems that everyone has an opinion on it. People's fears come from whether or not there is a risk of pollution from particles being deposited in the air from mining. Many others fear that noise is bothersome. Well some just believe that trucks entering and exiting mines are bad for local roads that are not used to heavy traffic.
Sources:
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (January 2012) Silica Sand Mining in Wisconsin
Retrieved from http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/documents/SilicaSandMiningFinal.pdf
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Tuesday, October 08, 2013) Silica (frac) sand mining
Retrieved from http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/mines/silica.html
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (July 12, 2012) Registering nonmetallic mineral deposits
Retrieved from http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Mines/Deposit.html
Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survery (2013) Frac sand in Wisconsin
Retrieved from http://wisconsingeologicalsurvey.org/pdfs/frac-sand-factsheet.pdf
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