As we noted at the end of Tuesday's post, Houston Co commissioners' move to ignore planning board term limits roils SE MN, letters are gracing newspapers in Southeast Minnesota with criticism of the frac sand industry and the politicians who love it.
In today's Winona Daily News, St. Charles resident Tessa Schweitzer cautions readers about the identity of those who are defending the industry in those same pages. In County should ban frac sand mining, she writes:
Winona County has two choices during this temporary lull in the demand for frac sand — temporary being the operative word.
The oil and gas industry is still eyeing the region. Representatives from the Heartland Institute and the Heritage Institute send in editorials to the Daily News, and out-of-town trolls appear in comments on letters to the editors supporting the industry. We can choose constant conflict, contentious public hearings, roads that need repaving yearly and an increase in the county budget. Or Winona County can choose an outright ban on new frac sand operations, which, despite what some would have us believe, is quite legal in Minnesota and would put an end to the matter once and for all.
Some folks would tell us there is middle ground in regulation. Unfortunately, Winona County has neither the staff nor budget for regulating an industry that operates on the principle of "easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission." A test sample drill was already done in the county without a permit and without the county's knowledge. Existing mines have not followed routes outlined in their permits.
If you support a ban, contact county commissioners and ask them to either introduce a ban or at least to support one.
Photo: A frac sand mine in Wisconsin.
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