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Frac Sand

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Industrial Sand Mining in Western Wisconsin: Resources for Environmental Monitoring and Advocacy

This page is an introduction to frac sand issues and airborne particles, aimed at connecting concerned community groups, hardware developers, and scientists. You will find resources to:

  • connect with projects and people facing frac sand issues and particle pollution
  • learn about particle pollution, health, and regulations
  • explore options for addressing frac sand mining in your community

Table of Contents

Frac Sand Mining
Background Information | This page gives information about the history of frac sand mining, what it is, what it is used for, and the environmental and human health concerns that surround it.
People and Places | The first permitting for Frac Sand mining in Wisconsin started in late 2006 (Pearson, 2015). Since then, thousands of people have participated in the fight against the frac sand mining industry's negative effects. Learn more about the groups involved and what they are doing on the Wisconsin wiki page.
Particulate Matter Monitoring | The PM Monitoring wiki includes information that explains how particles form in the air, how they affect human health, how they are regulated, and how they can be monitored. The wiki delves deep into different ways particles form with a focus on nonmetallic mining and silica dust.
Advocacy Leverage Points | This wiki discusses regulations surrounding frac sand mining and highlights local government leverage points towns and community groups can use to address frac sand issues. From here you can also link to the Frac Sand Legislation wiki, which discusses national and state regulations and legislation related to air quality that are particularly relevant to frac sand issues.
Action Oriented Resources | The Action Oriented Resources wiki compiles many tools people can use in addressing frac sand issues. There are workshops on selecting advocacy strategies, guidelines for setting up an environmental monitoring program, resources for working with the media, tools for reporting pollution and contact information for state and county regulators.

Recent activity related to frac sand mining:

Title Author Updated Likes Comments
Event: Sand Sentinel Training, Bloomer WI @stevie over 3 years ago 1
How to collect a water sample @stevie over 3 years ago 3
Reporting frac sand mine violations in Wisconsin @joyofsoy over 3 years ago 0
Event: Wisconsin Sand Sentinel Training @stevie about 4 years ago 0
Draft Sand Sentinel Program @stevie over 4 years ago 0
Event: Frac Sand Mining Health Research Public Forum @stevie over 4 years ago 0
What constitutes transit violations in Wisconsin? @kamau19 over 4 years ago 2
What constitutes an air quality violation in Wisconsin? @stevie over 4 years ago 1
Frac Sand Sentinel Fellowship @stevie almost 5 years ago 0
Notes from Tuesday’s frac sand call @stevie about 5 years ago 1
Recent conversations on the frac sand issue @stevie about 5 years ago 9
Advice regarding taking photos over frozen @dailyxeoto over 5 years ago 1
New documentary: Promise in the Sand @stevie over 5 years ago 0
Report: Particle Visualization Event @stevie over 5 years ago 0
What do respirable silica particles (frac sand pollution) look like? @warren over 5 years ago 5
Particle Visualization Event in Hixton, WI @gretchengehrke over 5 years ago 4
What is the best way to take a sample of snow to look for particulates? @stevie almost 6 years ago 1
Interview: Jim Gurley @stevie almost 6 years ago 0
Are there any methods to distinguish where particulate matter in the air comes from? @stevie over 6 years ago 4
Public Lab Community Newsletter: April 2017 @klie over 6 years ago 0
Practicing a PM hotspot survey in New Auburn, WI @mathew over 6 years ago 5
Raspberry Pi problems @bkleist over 6 years ago 4
Site Survey for a Minivol @mathew over 6 years ago 0
Frac sand hotspot testing and site survey @stevie over 6 years ago 0


Outline of Wiki Documents

Background Information
People and Places
Particulate Matter Monitoring

Advocacy Leverage Points

Action Oriented Resources


Research in progress and Wikis

Related to: Silica, Particulate Matter, Passive-pm monitoring, Wisconsin.