The Price of Sand: New Documentary Exposes Dangers of Frac-Sand Mining

Minnesota and Wisconsin are experiencing a mining boom because both states have plentiful deposits of pure silica sand, a necessary component in hydraulic fracturing or fracking. A Minnesota legislator recently compared the current demand for frac-sand to a …

The impacts of the Deepwater Horizon are being felt in—you guessed it—Minnesota. White pelicans that winter in the Gulf of Mexico and have lived in an oiled Gulf have migrated to far away places such as Minnesota to lay eggs…

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Gaps, inconsistencies and loopholes in U.S. state and Canadian provincial laws are leaving the Great Lakes and other natural resources vulnerable to a new wave of mining activity sweeping..

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What’s more important to you: FOOD or Dirty Energy?

The recent boom in hydrofracking for natural gas and oil has resulted in a little-reported side boom—a sand-rush in western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota, where we just happen to have the nation’s richest, most accessible supply of the high-quality silica sand required for fracking operations.

Unfortunately, most of that silica sand lies beneath our beautiful wooded hills and fertile farmland, and within agricultural and residential communities, all of which are now being ripped apart by sand mines interests eager to get at the riches below.

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In a blow to fiscal responsibility and river protections that Americans hold dear, the House of Representatives voted on March 1 to allow the construction of a $700 million mega-bridge over the Wild and Scenic St. Croix River. The bill had already passed the Senate.

American Rivers and its partners have been fighting the Stillwater Bridge proposal between Minnesota and Wisconsin, which would unnecessarily burden taxpayers while undermining Wild and Scenic River safeguards. Better, more cost-effective bridge alternatives exist.

The House action sets a dangerous precedent, threatening the safeguards for hundreds of Wild and Scenic Rivers nationwide.

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(Photo: A rendering shows one of the proposals for the St. Croix River Crossing connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin. Rendering courtesy of MnDOT)

Fetuses, newborns and infants are most at risk for mercury exposure, and a sampling of newborns in the Lake Superior basin showed 8 percent of them testing above safe levels.

The study, conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health from 2008 to 2010, tested 1,465 newborns living in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota for mercury. The 8 percent testing above safe levels had methylmercury in them—the kind from fish.

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