FRAC SAND SENTINEL
… keeping watch on the industry
Issue:
#16
DATE: JUNE 15, 2013
Jane Justesen wrote the letter below to Representative Kathy Bernier.
Kathy has openly indicated she has not received complaints from citizens. This
letter mentions a few concerns. There are others. The letter is a model of
"civic engagement" or "civic participation" and more of us
must tell our stories so that legislators and other civil employees can be
engaged in application of their job responsibilities of elected officials: to
protect the health, safety and welfare of their constituents. Tell Jane
"thank you" for sharing her remarks!
Pat
715-723-6398
sunnyday5@charter.net
THE CONCERNED
CHIPPEWA CITIZEN:
www.ccc-wis.com
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Subject:
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High capacity wells
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Date:
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Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:43:33 +0000 (UTC)
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From:
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Jane Justesen
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To:
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As
a concerned citizen of Augusta, WI I am asking that you remove the amendment to the
state budget that prevents citizens from expressing their concerns about the
number and location of high capacity wells.
If
you unfamiliar with our area of the state we would ask that you come and
witness what is happening to our little piece of the world. We are being
invaded by sand companies who are only here to rape the landscape but to remove
a product that is essential for the area's well being.
They have no vested
interest in our land except to remove the sand as fast as they can
before it is discovered that they indeed have polluted our water supply, our
air, and left a usable resource totally unproductive for at least 3
generations.
To submit to the power,
the money contributions from the mines, and the political influence of these
companies is incomprehensible. Are you aware that the money contributed
to political officials in the last couple of years has increased from $17,000
to $400,000. What does that tell you?
We are at the grassroots
level are trying to protect our land, our air, our water, our very
existence. I belong to two organizations: Concerned Citizens of Bridge
Creek and Citizens for Environmental Stewardship. We struggle financially
to just keep placing ads in local newspapers to educate the public about the
effects of sand mining on their health, their future, their children's
future.
Companies appear daily at
the doors of neighbors trying to force them into a decision that will forever
change the way we live in our townships and city. The potential of
hundreds of thousands of dollars is too much for some to resist. The lies
that are told to these land owners prevents them from realizing the harm that
they are causing to their neighbors and to the environment.
Companies seek permits and
are granted them by townships who only fear that they will be sued by these
huge companies. What is the benefit to our area from these land grabbing
pirates. NONE. The promise of jobs in our area as well as other
areas is a non-realized entity. The skill level required for these
positions typically does not exist among our local workers. By the time
this is realized, they are in the back door and there is no removing them.
The addition of any jobs is overridden by the loss of jobs related to tourism
being effected negatively.
The chemicals that they
use (they refuse to tell us what they are) are leaking into our aquifers and
settling into their holding ponds where they will leach into the land and the
water for generations to come. It will not be in my lifetime, but our
children and grandchildren will live with their effects forever.
Companies that assured us
they would never do blasting are now blasting on a daily basis.
Why? So they can get at the sand easier and remove this resource that has
been there for millions of years. The Hi-Crush plant south of Augusta which was to be a 30 year operation will in
reality probably be done in 8 years. Having witnessed what I did yesterday,
I predict 5 years.
What does this blasting do
to our air, our water, the neighbors? The effects will be more than just
the ground moving beneath their feet and their windows rattling and
cracking. The disturbance to the water flow will be felt sooner than
later. They built a conveyor system for over a mile so that they would
not have to truck their ill gotten gains. This conveyor runs directly in
front of homes. The sand that spills from this conveyor on a daily basis
lies in piles along the route of the conveyor. With the winds being
fairly constant, fugitive sand can be seen blowing from the 80-100 foot stacks
of sand on a daily basis.
Trains! Do you live
within hearing distance of a railroad? Well I do, and I am sick of being
awakened at all hours of the day and night. The train traffic through our
little town has disturbed the reason most of us live here. The peace and
quiet, the solitude, the safety of a rural community where neighbors used to
care about each other and how we effected each others lives. No
more. There are neighbors who no longer talk to each other after several
generations of being good neighbors. The city is divided among those who
believe that the mines represent progress and those of us who have studied at
length the effects the mines will have on us. There is enough research
out there to prove that what we are saying is valid about the quality of our
water, our air, the health effects of silica on people and animals, as well as
our landscape.
I would ask you to attend
an informational meeting this coming Wednesday evening, June 19th at 7 pm at the Augusta Community Center. Dr. Crispin Pierce, a PhD in environmental
health is coming to discuss the effects of sand mining on air quality. I
challenge you to attend to learn the truth about sand mining. It would
provide you with truthful facts and help you learn for yourself why the
amendment allowing companies to have unlimited high capacity wells is probably
the worst decision our legislators could make.
Hi-Crush has been in
operation for about a year. As part of their permit they were allowed to
install high capacity wells. Well, at the end of last year, they
installed 2 additional high capacity wells without a permit. What has the
DNR done about this? Essentially nothing.
Fines mean nothing to these people. They have more financial resources
than even our state could match. An example of the profitability of these
operations is that Hi Crush is reported to have paid for their multi million
dollar operation in 89 days of operation. There was enough finger
pointing as to who was to blame for this action but now the
legislators are going to allow them to build high capacity wells in an
unmonitored, unregulated fashion.
When Hi Crush started
their operation, they ran their high capacity wells at full capacity with no
meter placed on them. What kind of oversight by the DNR is this? At an air quality hearing for Hi
Crush's request to blast, the DNR
representative informed us that there is no one who oversees the total
permitting process. Each division of the DNR acts alone and the various components of the
permit are NOT reviewed as a whole. He also informed us that Hi Crush
will never be inspected due to the fact that they are too small of an operation.
Too small? Please come and see what this "small" operation has
done to our area.
Hi Crush tells us that we
can come and inspect at any time, yet the DNR has no scheduled inspections. What kind of
oversight is this?
You MUST remove the
amendment regarding high capacity wells from the budget. To not do so is
an unbelievable abuse of legislative power.
Please attend our meeting
on Wednesday, June 19th at 7 pm. We guarantee it will open your eyes to what is happening to
our lives.
Hi Crush is the only
functioning mine in our township at this time but we can inform you of at least
4-5 others who are knocking down our doors to get here.
Proof of this is the
township providing a permit to Five Star, another sand mining operation north
of Augusta on Hwy. 27. It is located adjacent to
the Eau
Claire River and adjacent to the old city landfill. Yet
it was provided with a permit to operate. Who is going to clean up the Eau Claire River and Bridge Creek when they are polluted from this operation?
