The Red Wing Republican Eagle reports in Moratorium allows for a year of silica sand research:
Now that Goodhue County commissioners have unanimously approved a moratorium preventing silica sand mine operations in the county for up to a year, plans are in the works to develop a group that can dig deep into the effects of silica.
To make good use of the next year, Goodhue County Planning Supervisor Mike Wozniak said county staff and commissioners are going to develop a steering committee to thoroughly research certain issues of concern surrounding silica sand mines.
“The challenge we will have here is a lot was asked for, and how do we organize this into a manageable project?” Wozniak said Thursday.
. . .The committee will study a long list of things that could be effected by a potential mine, including water and air quality, roads and bridges, the county’s recreation and the area’s high level of tourism.
“Whoever gets appointed, it’ll be a pretty intense work group,” Goodhue County Land-use Management Director Lisa Hanni said. . . .
Read the rest at the Eagle. The Rochester Post Bulletin reports in Oil company disappointed in frac mining moratorium by Goodhue County:
An official with an oil exploration company that wanted to mine a special kind of sand in southeastern Minnesota expressed disappointment Wednesday about a vote by a county board for a one-year moratorium while it studies the potential environmental, health and financial impacts.
People filled a public hearing room in Red Wing for a meeting Tuesday night that lasted nearly three hours and included public comments from 20 people in support of the moratorium. No one spoke in opposition to the temporary ban, which Goodhue County Commissioner Jim Bryant said will give officials time to assemble an advisory board to study the impact. . . ."We're disappointed that the county board decided to impose a moratorium but we intend to comply with all the regulations that exist in Goodhue County for the future work that we do," Chip Krohn, a geologist with the company [Windsor Energy Resources Inc./Windsor Permian], told The Associated Press on Wednesday. He said the company believes the county's existing regulations are "more than sufficient" for the board to decide whether to approve or reject permits.
Whatever the company is feeling, the local reaction is more positive. The Post Bulletin's editors concluded in Silica moratorium gives time to address concerns:
There's a lot to like about the one-year moratorium on silica sand mining in Goodhue County that was approved on Tuesday.
For starters, the vote by the county board was unanimous. Issues like this can lead to deep divides in communities and governing bodies, but that didn't happen in this case. Some commissioners might have some concerns about this decision, but they presented a united front when it was time to stand up and be counted, which will make things easier down the road.
We also like the fact that so many county residents are, for lack of a better term, "taking ownership" of this decision. . . .
Read the whole thing at the PB.
Photo: Aerial view of Hays Creek site.
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