Above is the proposed mine location, on lower left, and alternate transportation routes to a rail/barge transfer station.  This is from the “Fight Against Fracking” page, just click this link!

Community Meeting

Red Wing Library

Monday April 18, 2011 @ 6:30 p.m.

Heard a while back that some gas company had bought land for big BIG money in Hay Creek Twp on both sides of Hwy. 58.   HUH?  Whatever for?

FRACKING SAND!!!

Recently another company, a different company, expanded a sand mine in Maiden Rock, and the sand is for use in fracking, used in drilling for natural gas.  An article on that mine:

Wisconsin’s diamonds: ‘Frac sand’

Here’s a page for a fracking sand corporation that’s a subsidiary of Fairmont Minerals, parent of Wisconsin Industrial Sand Company, and which has many other companies and names too… they’ve got mines in Maiden Rock and Hager City, WI, just across the river from here:

SANTROL PROPPANTS

Fairmont Minerals is in the process of expanding that mine in Maiden Rock.  Here’s the Santrol Proppants product guide:

Santrol Proppants Product Guide

In Hay Creek Township, in Goodhue County, it’s supposedly Windsor Permian, which is in the gas drilling business… or as they say, “acquisition, exploration, development and production of high quality oil and gas reserves throughout the United States.”  Want to learn something about them?  Check their “History” page… oh… “Under Construction.”  Rumor has it that Windsor Permian is owned by Wexford Capital, LLC, a hedge fund managed by Charles Eugene Davidson.   I’ll keep digging.

The sand?  The plan is to mine it and ship it by truck, lots of trucks, to a site along Hwy. 61 in Frontenac!

One person’s take:

Frac sand is the hot commodity right now.  I understand that Bay City Mining is shipping 40 rails cars/week of frac sand with a wholesale value of $1500/ton (compared to $10/ton for pit run sand), a very lucrative prospect, especially if you are in the oil drilling/producing business.

The impact of sand mining totally depends on the alteration of water levels.  In Wisconsin the Jordan is totally dry so there is no dewatering, no surface runoff from the underground mines and only a little 4 acre load-out to the rail.  In other areas they need to de-water the Jordan in order to mine, usually high volume dewatering designed to lower the regional water level.  Large ethanol plant wells use 1000 gallon per minute, but are nothing compared to mine dewatering and to my knowledge there is nothing in SE that has ever been attempted.

… and …

By the way by my simple estimates at $1500 a ton it would only take about 1700 dumptruck loads to pay off the purchase price and then it’s all gravy.  Anyway I can’t help wondering where the wash water is going to come from AND when it’s going to end up when the “sand” is clean…   Makes you wonder…

… and …

They pull the water from Jordan Aquifer. Where they have done sand frac-ing mining in Wisconsin they have totally dried up the Jordan Aquifer and even small streams in the area where the mining was taking place.

It is very possible the mining operation could dry many local wells and adversely affect the stream flow level of Hay Creek. The only thing we have going for us, is Hay Creek is a designated trout stream. Designated trout streams have special legal restrictions that apply to land use practices that might cause negative impacts on the fishery or water flow levels of the creek.

What does Goodhue County have to say about it?  What authority, restrictions, conditions, requirements?

Article 14 – Mineral Extraction – Goodhue County Ordinance

Back to fracking.  What is it?

WIKI ON FRACKING (Hydraulic Fracturing)

Pretty cool, in the opener, they also answer my question, what the hell is a “proppant?”

A hydraulic fracture is formed by pumping the fracturing fluid into the wellbore at a rate sufficient to increase the pressure downhole to a value in excess of the fracture gradient of the formation rock. The pressure causes the formation to crack, allowing the fracturing fluid to enter and extend the crack farther into the formation. To keep this fracture open after the injection stops, a solid proppant, commonly a sieved round sand, is added to the fracture fluid. The propped hydraulic fracture then becomes a high permeability conduit through which the formation fluids can flow to the well.

And here’s a few words from the Wiki about the sand, something that should concern those of us near any mining operation:

A potential hazard that is commonly overlooked is the venting of bulk sand silos directly to atmosphere. When they are being filled, or emptied during the fracture, a fine cloud of silica particulate will be venting directly to atmosphere. This dust has the potential to travel many kilometers on the wind directly into populated areas. While the immediate personnel are wearing personal protective equipment, families in the area of a well fracture can potentially be exposed. However, sand used for proppant is washed to remove fines and is, therefore, virtually dust free.

Fracking has utterly screwed up Pennsylvania, where gas well are covering the countryside, New York too… I’m on a natural gas drilling list that contains some of the most distressing news ever, and to think that here in Goodhue County we’re contributing to that with our sand… and we’ll pay for it in the particulates spewed about hat go into our lungs, the massive truck traffic necessary to sustain this operation… eeeeeeeeeeuw, I do NOT like the sound of this.

If you’re interested, head on over to the meeting at the library:

Community Meeting

Red Wing Library

Monday April 18, 2011 @ 6:30 p.m.

The nuclear mess in Japan is just slowly getting worse, with radiation leaking out at higher levels, more radioactive water from the plant leaking out, nowhere to store what they are able to pump out, and efforts to pump water in aren’t sufficient to provide cooling.  The good news is that they are finally openly admitting that the plants will have to be “scrapped.”

Here are some updates from around the world:

Japan may have lost race to save nuclear reactor

Japan nuclear crisis: evacuees turned away from shelters

Link to photos from plant

Japan to scrap stricken nuclear reactors

Here’s a view of our own Monticello reactor, the same GE as some of the Fukushima plants:

For some technical info and photos of this type of GE reactor, check this “Virtual Nuclear Tourist” site, put together by Joseph Gunyeau (here’s some background on him) who I think is based in nearby Cannon Falls, he has been a contractor at many nuclear plants — and he says that a Fukushima page is in the works:

Monticello Page from Virtual Nuclear Tourist

The saga at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site continues, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, officials continue to report the situation as “grave.”

Radiation doses spread unequally – Daily Yomiuri Online

TEPCO workers not warned of radiation risk- Daily Yomiuri Online

Iodine 1,250times over limit – Daily Yomiuri Online

Radiation spikes in sea off Fukushima plant – Market Watch

Radioactivity rises in seawater near Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant – Washington Post

Japan PM calls situation at nuclear plant “grave” – Business Week

I’ve seen some bizarre bills over the years, but mandating logging in our state parks here in Southeast Minnesota has got to be one of the worst.  Who put it in?  Rep. Steve Drazkowski… EARTH TO MARS — PULL THE AMENDMENT… what more to say?

House Committee Minutes – p. 1035

Sec. 21. HARVEST OF TIMBER; STATE PARKS.

Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 86A.05, subdivision 2, or any other law to the contrary, the commissioner of natural resources shall assess the black walnut and other timber resources in Frontenac State Park and Whitewater State Park, harvest the black walnut and timber resources suitable for harvest, and deposit the proceeds from the sale into the state parks account in the natural resources fund by June 30, 2013.

From Bluestem Prairie, with a link to a great Op Ed from Mankato Free Press:

Only God can make a tree, but stupid ideas are left for the Draz to introduce

This posting drew this comment from a reader who was there:

I sat in on the House Environment evening 
session on March 16.  Some time after Lee 
Frelich offered his testimony Drazkowski 
went on a little rant about global warming 
and invasives.  I recall his remarks as being 
"Climate change, SO WHAT.  Invasives, SO WHAT."  
My notes probably don't have the wording exact 
but his "so whats" were so contemptuous that 
they stuck in my memory.  I'm pretty sure the 
meeting is recorded so his voice should be 
available but I don't know if the camera was on him.

I recall some ancient philosopher's prayer as 
being "O Lord, please make my enemies ridiculous."  
We've been granted ridiculous enemies.  I just 
wish they didn't have the majority in the legislature.

Here’s his contact info – tell him what you think:

651-296-2273  and  507-843-3711

E-mail: rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn

Next it goes to Ways and Means, so contact all the members, just cut and paste the addresses below:

rep.maryliz.holberg@house.mn

rep.keith.downey@house.mn

rep.lyndon.carlson@house.mn

rep.jim.abeler@house.mn

rep.bruce.anderson@house.mn

rep.sarah.anderson@house.mn

rep.mike.beard@house.mn

rep.kathy.brynaert@house.mn

rep.mark.buesgens@house.mn

rep.bobby.champion@house.mn

rep.tony.cornish@house.mn

rep.greg.davids@house.mn

rep.kent.eken@house.mn

rep.pat.garofalo@house.mn

rep.mindy.greiling@house.mn

rep.bob.gunther@house.mn

rep.tom.hackbarth@house.mn

rep.rod.hamilton@house.mn

rep.frank.hornstein@house.mn

rep.larry.howes@house.mn

rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn

rep.phyllis.kahn@house.mn

rep.mary.kiffmeyer@house.mn

rep.morrie.lanning@house.mn

rep.ann.lenczewski@house.mn

rep.denny.mcnamara@house.mn

rep.bud.nornes@house.mn

rep.gene.pelowski@house.mn

rep.tom.rukavina@house.mn

rep.nora.slawik@house.mn

rep.steve.smith@house.mn

rep.jean.wagenius@house.mn

rep.torrey.westrom@house.mn

It’s hard to miss the Tammens — they are EVERYWHERE!!!  Saw them up in Clouqet about a year ago at an IATP Biomass love-fest, and they have been at every meeting and hearing for the Excelsior Energy Mesaba Project.  Good to see they’ve been noticed!!!

Here’s the profile in Session Weekly — thanks to Darrell Gerber for pointing this out:

Soudan snowbirds

Published (3/25/2011)
By Sue Hegarty
You might not notice Bob and Pat Tammen sitting in the House hearing rooms. Bob, clothed in a crisp, pressed dress shirt and necktie, blends in with the lobbyists, deputy commissioners and expert testifiers. Pat sits next to her husband, alert to the day’s agenda.

The Tammens are not on anybody’s political payroll, nor are they required to hear or give testimony about proposed legislation, unlike most in the gallery. Yet there they sit, day after day.

“We’ve seen a couple of committees that have citizens sitting there with equal standing. Sometimes I believe those citizens represent our values better than our elected officials,” Bob said.

On Pat’s 74th birthday, March 22, they were in the House Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee hearing by 8:15 a.m. for 90 minutes of testimony; then again as testimony continued into the evening.

A retired couple from Soudan, the Tammens could spend the long, cold Minnesota winter anywhere. Instead, they pack up their 24-foot camper and drive to St. Paul, where they park in the Sears parking lot across from the State Office Building, so they can be close to all the legislative action.

“We like where we live, and when we talk about the quality of life in Minnesota, Soudan has it,” Bob said.

They begin their mornings with a walk across the street to buy a newspaper and coffee in the State Office Building. After sitting though the morning hearings in the House or Senate, they grab a bowl of soup at the Rathskeller, the State Capitol cafeteria. Afternoons may include more hearings or witnessing a rally in the Capitol Rotunda. In the evenings, they often drive their self-contained Winnebago to a bookstore where they share a sandwich. Pat scours the bookshelves while Bob uses the wireless Internet to check email.

They pay Sears a monthly parking fee of $30. So far, no one has rattled their metal cage, but they do need to watch their step when the snowplow clears the lot. On weekends, they return home to do laundry, open the mail and repack for another week in St. Paul.

In the spirit of full disclosure, they say they are DFLers and lifelong union workers. Pat taught elementary school in the Ely area for 38 years. Bob was an electrician who worked in the mines and did contract electrical work at Xcel’s nuclear power plant in Monticello. They pay dues to nearly every environmental group, but neither has ever held a board seat, they said.

Bob and Pat met after he returned from Vietnam in 1965.

Bob worked for several mining operations and for U.S. Steel, where he became familiar with mining’s residual effect on the environment. “Most of us were pretty nonchalant about what we were doing. There were a few voices in our communities warning us about this, but most of us didn’t listen,” he said.

They don’t always agree with some DFL legislators who say mining brings prosperity to a community.

“Look at Virginia. They are surrounded by taconite mines. You couldn’t squeeze any more mines in there hardly. They’re still losing population,” Bob said.

Pat followed the alternative pathways for teacher licensure debate in the House education committees and believes it will weaken the classroom.

When the legislative session ends, they’ll drive north again and park the camper on

20 acres of undeveloped land they own along 800 feet of shoreline. They’ll drop their canoe in the water and pick up stray fishing bobbers to add them their collection. Enjoying a respite from the Capitol chatter, they’ll hike through the new Lake Vermilion State Park near their house. No doubt, these citizen watchdogs will keep a watchful eye on how taxpayer dollars are being spent to develop the park that’s been called the jewel of the state park system.