Updated: 2/25/2009
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What do you think about plans to create a sand mine in the town of Howard and a facility to process the sand in Chippewa Falls?
I think that the sand plant in Chippewa Falls and the silica sand mine in Howard plus the many mines planned for other locations throughout Chippewa and surrounding counties have been brought to us with an astounding lack of consideration for the far-reaching negative impacts they are sure to have. Decreased air quality, decreased property values, land-use conflicts, citizen sentiment and negative economic and environmental impacts have been disregarded. Despite citizen pleas to explore these factors, city and county leaders were more persuaded by mining company promises of benefits. These ever-changing and vague benefits shrink when weighed against the costs to taxpayers - broken government at its best.
DANIEL WALTON
Eau Claire
I strongly oppose the sand mining and processing operation that will no doubt affect the people of Chippewa Falls, Chippewa County and area townships. The health and safety of those communities will be impacted, especially among the most vulnerable - children, seniors and the sick - who it seems have no voice in this matter. Someone has to speak for them; they are the ones who will suffer most.
DAN KURTZ
Chippewa Falls
I strongly disapprove! Past practices of sand mines clearly demonstrate they are hazardous and destructive to the health, environment and infrastructure of the communities where they have been constructed. The Chippewa Valley will become known for dirty mining rather than the computer industries, Leinenkugel's, Chippewa Springs and Lake Wissota State Park.
ROGER LEBEIS
Chippewa Falls
The large number of these kinds of projects now proposed for western Wisconsin raises serious questions about the impact on our air and groundwater quality, not to mention the impact on the owners of rural residential properties. The air, light, noise and traffic impact on those residents will certainly affect their property values and quality of life in a very negative way. The economic impact to the area will be a short-term benefit to a few people and will probably actually cost most residents in the long term.
PAT EGGERT
Colfax
"Create" a sand mine? It seems odd to use the word "create" in combination with a process that will actually destroy what has already been created. The removal of more than 700,000 tons per year of hills, trees, plants, wetlands, topsoil, subsoil and sand to depths of 100 feet is not a creative process. And that's just from one mine. To keep the sand plant in Chippewa Falls operating at full capacity, Canadian Sand and Proppant will need four mines this same size. So far, I have not seen a balance sheet that clearly shows the math for what will be created and what will be destroyed. One thing has been created for me personally: distrust in the methods and decisions of the local officials who brought this into our midst.
ELIZABETH WALTON
Eau Claire
UW-Eau Claire professor Crispin Hayes Pierce's concerns about the impact a proposed Chippewa County sand plant might have on the environment, expressed at a forum last week, were a wake-up call to concerned citizens in Wisconsin. I'm glad someone of his qualifications had the courage to point out the dangers of sand. I would like to expound on the subject even further.
A warning to you parents: Clean up those sand boxes. It's no wonder the kids have been plagued with runny noses and sore throats all these years, probably caused by - you guessed it - silicosis.
You state and county highway departments: Knock off the road sanding! That's probably why we have all the sinus and asthma troubles during winter.
You farmers, tilling all that sand land: Plant it back to trees, you polluters. It literally makes me sick seeing all that sandy land laying bare each spring. God knows what else you're digging up out there and spewing in the air with those machines.
Wisconsin has too much sand, and we need to do something about it. I think we should support a coalition to send it back to where it came from, Canada.
But wait. They want to buy it? Hey, sounds like a no-brainer to me.
GARY SEIPEL
Eau Galle
Have you ever heard the phrase, "canary in the coal mine"? If the proposed refinery and sand mines go through, we'll be the canaries. It will be just a matter of time until our decline will be noticed and the alarm will be sounded. By then, it will be too late.
What decline? Serious and sometimes deadly health risks will occur due to polluted air filled with microscopic silica particles that can remain suspended in the air indefinitely as far as 100 miles away. Diesel fumes from the oversized semi trucks that will pass any given point every three minutes constantly will also be cause for concern. Water pollution due to the loss of four wetlands just at the plant site alone, and the loss of hills and their topsoil - which are essential for filtering water before being returned to the aquifer - will also mark our decline. In addition, we will be affected by the physical danger caused by the frequent truck traffic.
Why would any of us want to give our future - and that of generations to come - to the old, dirty technology of the 20th century? When our world is at the brink of ecological disaster, why wouldn't we seek the clean energy of the 21st century?
IRENE PRUZEK
Chippewa Falls
The decision by the Chippewa Falls City Council and mayor to place a silica sand processing company in the city limits - along with up to five strip-mining locations in Chippewa County to keep it fully functioning - has been highly influenced by the company and a sand salesman. The research by residents in the city and county has not been heard. Hills will be gone. The effects of this entire operation on the environment will be far-reaching in terms of water, air, light and sound pollution; road traffic, safety and breakdown of roads will cost taxpayers more than the plant contributes to the economy.
The company will create 20 to 55 low-paying jobs. Current companies may be driven from the city because of the large amounts of particulates that will surround the city for miles. The siting in the city limits is poorly conceived, and the sand produced will not solve the nation's need for energy; it is an environmentally unsound practice. Do we need this in our city and county? In the northwestern part of Wisconsin? A resounding "no"!
PAT POPPLE
Chippewa Falls
I think approving the sand plant is the most irresponsible decision the City Council, including the mayor, could make for Chippewa Falls. There will be an increase in hauling traffic - one truck every one to two minutes on roads we travel every day. This diesel pollution plus the silica dust from the plant will increase my children's chances of getting cancer as well as irritate our lungs.
We have a child with asthma, and he has had to stay inside on the high-alert days for pollution this winter. What will happen when this plant starts up? It is within a mile of his school.
SANDRA MARTINEAU
Chippewa Falls
There will be very few jobs gained, and for what: loss of property values around the mine, the plant and along the route between them; major, increased wear and tear on our roads; dangers to air quality and groundwater contamination at both sites. The Department of Natural Resources does not have the tight control on this issue that most seem to think it has, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions about who will be monitoring things such as air and water when they are up and running.
Canadian Sand and Proppant plans to extract 30 million tons from the Howard site alone over a period of 50-plus years. That is one big hole! Will the stuff they don't want - which will be brought back to the mine site - create the natural filter for our water that the hard, compressed sandstone has for thousands of years?
This company is seeking out many more sites in the area. You cannot take that much from a site without it being greatly affected. Please become better informed about the impacts to our lives. The way of life and health of our communities is at stake. And for those who are only concerned about the economic impact, I truly believe the problems this heavy industry will bring will greatly surpass the few jobs it will generate.
JANET ZWIEFELHOFER
Bloomer
I am strongly against the mine and plant. Having the plant at the entrance to the north end of the city will detract from our tourism image. We do not want to be a heavy industrial town. We especially do not want the diesel and sand particles in our air. Those who live close to Highway S and near the railroad tracks do not want the additional traffic and noise and don't want their homes to be devalued. The City Council should not have issued the conditional use permit until there had been more input from citizens. More limitations regarding hours of operation, hours of transporting sand and responsibility for repairing roads needed to be established. Some say this will be good for the city of Chippewa Falls, but I say it won't be good for the people of Chippewa Falls.
JANE LARDAHL
Chippewa Falls
I live just half a mile from the proposed sand facility in Chippewa Falls. I feel the dust from the sand stored outside, the fumes from the trucks and the odor from the proposed resin plant to be too much for me. I am elderly and have asthma and an incomplete immune system. I doubt that any of the other elderly folks will be able to withstand it either.
The plant should not be within the city limits or even in the state, ruining our lovely hills and wetlands and disturbing the animals and birds. Gasoline, which causes noxious smog and air problems, will soon be a thing of the past, so stop the sand plant!
VERA HEMMINGER
Chippewa Falls
I think the plans are not a good idea. We want industry, but I believe there could be a better industry to come in. Because our communities are looking at "going green," I do not believe the mines and plants coincide with that plan.
The lack of information to the public about why this has been approved seems questionable. Unfortunately the public was only informed after it was too late and the approval processes were already in place.
SHANNON MEINDEL
Chippewa Falls
