The Rapid Industrialization of Frac Sand
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Published by Food and Water Watch
Frac sand is an essential component in the fracking process; it is combined with large quantities of water and toxic chemicals, which are injected underground at high pressure to crack dense rock and release oil and gas.
Frac sand is an essential component in the fracking process; it is combined with large quantities of water and toxic chemicals, which are injected underground at high pressure to crack dense rock and release oil and gas.
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T
he swift proliferation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has brought a host of environmental and public health impacts,
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including those associated with the increased demand for industrial silica sand.
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Frac sand is an essential component in the fracking process; it is combined with large quantities of water and toxic chemicals, which are injected underground at high pressure to crack dense rock and release oil and gas. The sand holds open the fractures to allow the oil and gas to escape.
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— is needed to frack a single well.
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Mining, processing and ransporing rac sand generaes and spreads dusy pariculae mater and crysalline silica, a known human carcinogen. These polluans can exacerbae or cause respiraory and cardiovascular problems.
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Furhermore, mining silica rac sand disrups landscapes and can pollue he air and nearby reshwaer sources.
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A whole new indusry is aking off o mine his sand rom communiies, and many people in is pah righully ear ha rac sand mining will damage he environmen, heir commu-niies and heir healh.
Afer drilling down o a rock ormaion ha holds oil or nau-ral gas, ypically drilling sideways hrough his argeed layer o rock, millions o gallons o waer mixed wih chemicals and sand are injeced under exreme pressure o racure (or “rack”) he rock.
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Sand is he mos common “propping agen,” or proppan, ha keeps he racures ajar,
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enabling oil or naural gas o low up he well.
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The Rapid Industrialization of
FRAC SAND
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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
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said a residen o Allamakee Couny near he mine. “I ook hundreds o housands o years o build his landscape he way i is.” Concerned ciizens are ighing o keep hisoric and beauiul landscapes preserved rom he desrucive pracice o rac sand mining,
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wih curren moraoria in Winneshiek and Allamakee counies se o expire in 2014.
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Meanwhile, abou 95 miles souhwes o Chicago, rac sand min-ing operaions are rapidly expanding around Sarved Rock Sae Park, a major ouris atracion ha draws more han 2 million visiors each year. “Millions o visiors o Sarved Rock Sae Park could soon ind hemselves driving hrough Illinois’ larges sand box,” he
Chicago Tribune
repored in November 2013.
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In November 2012, he Illinois Deparmen o Naural Resources (DNR) graned approval, despie mass opposiion, or a com-pany o mine silica sand in land immediaely coniguous o Sarved Rock Sae Park.
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The ollowing monh, a coaliion o environmenal groups iled sui agains he Illinois DNR, effec-ively delaying he company rom saring is mining opera-ion.
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(As o January 2014, he case is sill pending.
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) Residens who are opposed o he mine dread he noise and environmen-al polluion i would bring o heir bucolic liesyle. I could also hur ourism and cause ecological damage o he park and surrounding erriory o he Illinois River Valley.
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Tough regulaions are vial or proecing residens rom he rapid expansion o rac sand mining. Zoning sysemically regulaes he way ha land is used by speciying wha can be done where and o wha exen.
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Wihou a zoning ordinance, a localiy’s abiliy o regulae a mining operaion, or keep one ou, is more limied.For example, in 2011, Cooks Valley, a small unzoned own in Chippewa Couny, Wisconsin, passed a local ordinance regu-laing nonmeallic mine operaions (e.g., silica sand) and had o igh a legal batle o keep i. A group o landowners who waned o develop sand mines sued he own seeking o overurn he regulaions.
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They claimed ha he own unlawully creaed a
zoning ordinance
wihou couny approval,
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bu Cooks Valley argued ha i was simply rying o proec isel by enacing a
licensing or- dinance
.
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Afer a circui cour ruled agains Cooks Valley, he own appealed he decision ha invalidaed is ordinance, and he appellae cour sen he case o he Wisconsin Su-preme Cour o deermine wheher i was a zoning ordinance or a licensing ordinance.
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In February 2012, he Wisconsin Supreme Cour ruled in he own’s avor and upheld Cooks Valley’s ordinance.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
