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As more mines and processing plans pop up o supply he oil and gas indusry wih his maerial, many people living amid he rac sand boom are increasingly concerned abou how he growing indusry affecs heir qualiy o lie. Their worries include air and noise polluion, waer conaminaion, and road damage and public saey risks rom heighened ruck raffic on local roads.
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Public Health and Silica Sand
Long-erm exposure o ine paricles o silica, a componen ha makes up as much as 99 percen o rac sand,
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can increase he risk o developing silicosis, which damages lung issue and inhibis lungs uncion. Breahing silica makes a person more suscepible o uberculosis and is associaed wih oher diseases such as kidney disease and auoimmune disorders.
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I can also cause cancer. Sudies indicae ha workers exposed o crysal-line silica dus have increased lung cancer raes.
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The Naional Insiue or Occupaional Saey and Healh (NIOSH) and he Occupaional Saey and Healh Adminisra-ion (OSHA) have been evaluaing poenial worker healh and saey hazards relaed o oil and gas exracion.
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Saring in 2010, NIOSH examined 11 racking sies in Arkan-sas, Colorado, Norh Dakoa, Pennsylvania and Texas. The sudy ound ha levels o exposure o silica dus in racking operaion ields were signiicanly higher han occupaional healh crieria, including he NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limi, someimes exceeding i by a acor o 10 or more.
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In ac, more han hal o he 111 samples o workplace expo-sures exceeded he OSHA Permissible Exposure Limi and more han wo-hirds exceeded he NIOSH limi.
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The amoun o silica sand ha workers were being exposed o was beyond he ederal limis esablished by NIOSH and OSHA.Alhough workers wih long-erm exposure o ine paricles o silica — wheher a sand mining operaions or a drilling sies — are more prone o developing silicosis,
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residens living nearby operaions may ace healh risks as well. “The breah-ing par o i isn’ good. You can jus eel i in your hroa, eel i in your nose,” explained an individual living across he sree rom a Wisconsin sand-washing plan.
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Destruction of Precious Lands, Ecosystems and the Environment
Alhough sand and gravel mining have been around or de-cades, and some Midwesern saes like Minnesoa and Wis-consin have mined silica sand or more han a hundred years, he magniude and inensiy o rac sand mines are ar greaer han sandard sand and gravel mines.
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The excavaion process used or rac sand is a orm o open-pi srip mining ha is someimes comparable o mounainop removal used in coal quarrying by blasing away hillop land-scapes o access silica sand.
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Boh mining and he reining process ha ollows — paricularly, washing clay away rom he sand grains
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— can place a srain on local groundwaer resources in nearby communiies.
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In norheasern Iowa, silica sand mining has already devasa-ed landscapes. One mine is blasing away ancien bluffs souh o he own o McGregor. “This is why we’re ighing his,”
PHOTO COURTESY OF U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY