Guest post by Joanna Rupprecht, Land Stewardship Project
Winona County officials apparently now have a much better understanding of their role as the "Responsible Governmental Unit" in the environmental review process for frac sand mines, and the concerns LSP raised recently (see previous blog post) will be addressed before the Yoder and Dabelstein EAWs are re-published.
We've learned that County Planning Department staff now intend to use the full allotted time to thoroughly prepare the new EAWs, making sure that they no longer contain self-serving language written by the mine proposers. Re-publication of the EAWs is not expected to take place before mid- or late-December.
The county is also looking into the possibility that these two mines and the proposed Minnesota Proppant processing facility in St. Charles are related as either a connected or phased action, which could trigger a mandatory Environmental Impact Statement.
See this Nov. 14 Winona Post article for more on the situation.
Originally posted on the Land Stewardship Project's blog.
Photo: Aerial view of frac sand mine by Jim Tittle. Used with permission.
Related post: Winona County and frac sand: letting the fox guard (and build and pluck) the hen house
As they weren't willing to do their job in the first place, one wonders why we should hold out hope they will do a good or even acceptable job this time. Likely it won't be hard for them to complete the work...copiers are cheap.
Posted by: T Pa or Coffee | Nov 16, 2012 at 04:24 PM