You Showed Up. You Spoke Up. You
Made a Difference. Now What?
A Conference for
Frac Sand Activists: Networking,
Learning, Advocating
Join citizen volunteers from both sides of the Mississippi River for a
day of network building and information exchange. Whether you are new to the
issue or an experienced advocate, this conference is for you. We are all working to protect our communities
from the adverse impacts of industrial-scale silica sand mining, processing and
transport. At the conference you will meet citizens and hear success stories
from all over the region. You will leave with ideas that you can use in your
own community.
Saturday,
May 9, 2015
8:30 AM to
3:30 PM
St. Mary
of the Lake Church
419 West
Lyon Ave. (Hwy. 63), Lake City, MN 55041
Located 3
blocks from Hwy. 61 on Hwy. 63.
$15
includes lunch and breaks
Registration
information below
Presentations and Speakers
Keynote. S. Margaret Galiardi, OP. Grounded in years of personal
engagement in the struggle for justice for both people and planet, S. Margaret
will set our efforts to resist frac sand mining in the context of the
Universe's struggle to become more conscious of itself. As each of us reaches deeply within to summon
the energy needed for this task, it is ours to go beyond "angry
activism" to encounter the force that, even now, 13.8 billion years after
its emergence, propels the Universe toward greater elegance. Together we will
explore how fidelity to this challenge can call forth new depths of personal,
communal and structural integrity, as in the effort to safeguard the 495
million-year-old sandstone of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the region comes home to
itself. S. Margaret is Dominican Sister from Amityville, New York, who lectures
and gives retreats around the country with an emphasis on ecological
spirituality. She is the author of Where the Pure Water Flows and Encountering
Mystery in the Wilderness: One Woman's Vision Quest. While she worked at Villa
Maria Center in Frontenac, she was actively engaged in advocacy for clean water
in the Lake Pepin watershed.
Where We Are Today. Speaker to be
Announced.
PowerPoint presentation of the current status of legislation, regulations, State
Rules and in Minnesota and Wisconsin and the status of permit applications throughout
the region. NOTE: ??consider a Trempealeau County speaker??
Strategies for Advocacy. Any
Nelson, PhD, and Keith Fossen. Your community needs to become a sophisticated RGU. Learn how to
advocate effectively during the local permitting process when timelines are
tight and deadlines are firm. Find out the difference between a EAW, EIS, CUP
and a Development Agreement and how zoning and comprehensive planning underpin
the whole process. Find out what is going on behind the scenes (staff and
professional review and meetings with the applicant’s representatives). It’s important
to understand your rights as a citizen, the importance of comment periods and
the legal standing of various decisions. Learn the what to expect from experts
and the importance of diligence in checking credentials, asking for disclosure
of conflicts and relationships and checking references. [NOTE THAT SOME OF THIS
MIGHT BELONG IN THE “CONTINUED” SESSION RATHER THAN HERE.] _____[brief bio]____ Nelson and Fossen
recently served on the
Minnesota Silica Sand Rule-Making Advisory Panel.
Ups and Downs of Frac Sand Mining.
Speaker TBD._____[information
about the industry – where its at - in both WI and MN; include economic impact, supply & demand]____[brief
bio]___
Strategies for Advocacy Continued. Wendy
Ward (invited).
More strategies for effective advocacy including how to cultivate political
will and win the political game, how to use conventional and social media, and
how to engage and support volunteers. _____[brief bio]______.
What the State Can and Cannot Do.
Kristen Eide-Tollifson (invited). An update of the status of State Rules adoption - what they cover and
what is left to local units of government. Find out who has enforcement
responsibility._____[brief bio]___.
What’s Next? Panel of Citizen
Advocates.
Get ready for the next phase of advocacy. Experienced local advocates will
share examples of the most effective strategies they used in their own
community and we will ask them to give us an example of a new idea that they
will try in the future. Q&A will follow.
Summary and Closing. Margaret
Galiardi, OP.
Sr. Margaret will call out
the key points made throughout the day and leave us inspired for the work
ahead.
Breakout Sessions and Speakers
Legal Options for Restricting or Banning Silica
Sand Mining by Ordinance.
William Mavity. Are you thinking of restricting or banning sand mining
by ordinance? In this session you will learn how it's accomplished politically
and why it is defensible in court. Mavity
is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer and has argued and won cases
involving issues of constitutional law before the Minnesota Court of Appeals,
the Minnesota Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth
Circuit. Now retired and living in Pepin
County, WI, Mavity served on the Pepin County Board from 2011 to 2014. He is Chair of Lake Pepin Partners in
Preservation, Inc., (LPPP) which was instrumental in drafting and obtaining
passage in 2013 of the Pepin County Overlay Zoning Ordinance banning all frac
sand operations in the Great River Road Corridor along Lake Pepin.
Options for Legal Intervention.
Carol A. Overland. Citizens have the right to take legal action
and sometimes it’s the best option or the only option. Learn how to find an
attorney and what strategies to use when you need to go that route. Learn the
importance of checking credentials and asking for conflict of interest
disclosure. __[brief bio]__. Overland specializes in utility regulatory and land
use advocacy
Handling Traffic. Speaker to be
Announced. Sand
mining impacts roads and traffic. Find out what you can do to protect public
safety and the public pocketbook when the industry proposes a project that
impacts your community. Learn the basics of civil engineer lingo, when to ask
for a traffic study and what to do with the information once you have it.
__??mention rail transit???___??mention the McGregor,Iowa
experience??_____[brief bio]_____
Earth and Human Connections. S.
Margaret Galiardi, OP. Join S. Margaret for conversation expanding on the message of the
Keynote.
Maintaining Air Quality. Student
Speaker to be Announced and Crispin Pierce, Ph.D. ____basics of air quality,
emissions associated with the mining, processing and transport of silica sand
and how exposure can be mitigated at facilities and in the
environment____[brief bio]____is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau
Claire.
Air Quality Monitoring Research.
Crispin Pierce, Ph.D.
_____[description of the latest research at the University of Wisconsin and at
other institutions along with industry, include ongoing research and emerging
issues, etc.]____ [brief bio]_______
Hydrology of the Driftless Area.
Larry Gates. The
hydrologic system of our region functioned beautifully before Euro-American
settlement. Learn how human activity impacted the system and what needs to
happen for system restoration. Find out what the Paleozoic Plateau is and what
makes the driftless region of Minnesota and Wisconsin so uniquely sensitive to
water pollution. ____[Maybe pair Larry with Jeff Green for the specific water
impacts of mining.] ___[bio]__Aquatic Biologist
(retired), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Rehabilitating Mining Sites. Katie
Himanga, CF. Learn
what you need to know about reclamation plans, local natural and cultural
resources, what to advocate for during the permitting process, and what to
watch for once mining is underway. Modern, science-based rehabilitation goes
beyond stable and green slopes, and considers restoration of ecological
function and landscape character. Himanga is a Certified Forester and long-time
environmental advocate. She has a degree in forest resources from the
University of Minnesota, served as Mayor of the City of Lake City from
2004-2008, and recently served on the Minnesota Silica Sand Rule-Making
Advisory Panel.
Choosing Your Battles. Speaker to
be Announced. Channeling
your emotions into effective advocacy
The
conference is hosted by Save the Bluffs of Red Wing and Lake City, Minnesota
and made possible by a grant from Save the Hills Alliance of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Learn more at: sites.google.com/site/savethebluffs
To Register
Send this
information to Save the Bluffs, PO Box 296, Red Wing, MN 55066, along with a
check for $15 payable to: Save the Bluffs. We won’t use this information for
anything other than the conference.
Name:
____________________________________
City:______________________________________
State:
____________________________________
E-mail
____________________________________
Phone:____________________________________
To help us
plan, tell us which breakout sessions are you most likely to attend:
___Legal
Options for Restricting or Banning Mining
___Options
for Legal Intervention
___Handling
Traffic
___Earth
and Human Connections
___Maintaining
Air Quality
___Air
Quality Monitoring Research
___Hydrology
of the Driftless Area
___Rehabilitating
Mining Sites
___Choosing
Your Battles.
