Trempealeau County Board Votes For One Year Frac Sand Moratorium

Trempealeau County has enacted a one year moratorium on new frac sand mining operations, despite already approving 26 sites.

After an hour and a half of sometimes heated debate, the Trempealeau County Board passed the moratorium on a 12-to-nothing vote with two abstaining and one supervisor, who has been accused of having a conflict of interest, leaving the meeting early. The moratorium bans any new frac sand facilities from being permitted by the county and keeps existing mines from expanding.

The resolution was brought by Sally Miller, who sits on the County Board of Health. She says more than 800 citizens have come forward saying they’re concerned about effects frac sand mining may have on their health. “This moratorium is saying we are going to study health issues. We’re going to study particulate matter, we’re going to study water quality, we’re going to study diesel exhaust fumes,” she said. “We are going to stick strictly to things that can be measured, which are health impacts. If the data isn’t out there, we’ll go get it.”

But Supervisor Tom Bice questions the ability of a rural county without many resources to find links between health problems and frac sand mining that state and federal agencies haven’t found. “For Trempealeau County to take on … some kind of fact finding mission, going up against the EPA and all the other organizations that have done this time after time: it’s almost ridiculous.”

Under the resolution the county must now appoint an 11-person committee to design and lead the health studies. The moratorium goes into effect August 30.