Silica Sand Plant:
Development or Destruction?

Sally Petrilli  |

Many citizens of Chippewa Falls, a city of 13,054 in Northwestern Wisconsin, are fighting to stop Canadian Sand and Proppants, Inc.(CSP) from building a silica sand processing plant on 90 acres of land within the city limits. Their finished product will be resin coated sand grains used to force oil and gas out of aging wells, a process called “fracturing”. CSP’s untested plan requires trucking the contents of four distant sandstone quarries into the city for round the clock processing, seven days a week. Land sales, rezoning, annexations and tax benefits were negotiated before citizens were informed of these plans, and their input since has been ignored. This project was promoted as a “golden opportunity” by local officials and economic developers. Many question if this is more “destruction” than “development”. The most polluting activities of the mining operation, the processing, will occur within one quarter to one mile of residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, medical facilities and daycare centers. Other destructive consequences anticipated include road damage from constant semi-truck traffic, degraded property values near the entire project, loss of agricultural land, and water and noise pollution. Of greatest concern is increased air pollution. Respirable crystalline silica is a known carcinogen and degrader of respiratory health. This is not a done deal. More at www.ccc-wi.com.