While the Winona Daily News' editorial page seemed to have lost its wits with the departure of editor Darrell Ehrlick, bemoaning the imposition of a silica sand mining moratorium when none had been put in place by the county board, the news staff is covering the issue.
In Sand mine would affect roads, Mary Juhl writes:
Three proposed frac sand mining operations in Saratoga Township could create a spike in truck traffic, potentially causing significant damage to Winona County roads, according to Dave Kramer, the county’s highway engineer.
As the Winona County Board of Commissioners prepares to discuss a possible moratorium on frac sand mining today, the highway department is researching the potential impacts of increased truck traffic.
Kramer, who has consulted with officials in Goodhue and Wabasha counties who face similar issues, said it would cost about $200,000 to reclaim one mile of road, though he said he can’t be sure that additional truck traffic would be significant enough to create the need for complete reclamation.
“This additional traffic would take a much higher amount of life out of the road in a short time period,” Kramer said. “Essentially, that would leave the rest of the road users to pick up the tab.”
County officials are looking at possible solutions to offset potential road-damage costs, including the enforcement of a tax on aggregate removal first approved in 1982.
Commissioner Mena Kaehler said that although the tax would generate money, it would likely not generate enough to cover full repairs.
So a private firm gets to wreck the roads and the citizens pick up the tab? Sounds like a 1% solution if there ever were one.
Kelly Kirk writes in a guest column,We have to live with the results after the mine is gone:
Historically, mining has been tied to the detriment of water and air quality, as well as the destruction of habitat. So when words such as "fracking" and "strip mining" were bandied about at the Oct. 20 Winona County Planning Commission meeting, all sorts of negative connotations come to my mind.
Mining advocate Jeff Broberg of McGhie and Betts Environmental Services of Rochester did little to dissuade me of the potential drawbacks to such practices. He presented only one side of the rubric: economics.
Broberg and others believe we, the concerned citizens, should step aside because we already have sand and quarry materials being trucked through Saratoga Township, the county and the city of Winona. Using that logic, no current practice or activity should ever be subjected to limits. If a shot of whiskey is good for you, alcohol poisoning must be even better.
Broberg should not belittle citizens' statements as they voice their concerns about air quality, road damage and noise intensity. These are valid concerns regarding any mining operation. Perhaps he could put us all at ease by introducing us to a successful silica sand operation that has recently closed with a happy general populace. What does restoration of the landscape look like? Who benefited from the practice? Who lost out with this endeavor? Would that community elect to do it again?
If the sand of Winona County is so valuable, why berate us with the implication that if we do not allow this operation to proceed right now, this economic opportunity may belost forever? Either our sand is valuable or it is not.
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