Sand mine, plant raise controversy during 2008

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By MARK GUNDERMAN and ROD STETZER
mark.gunderman@lee.net
Friday, January 2, 2009 7:29 PM CST

A proposal for a sand mine in the town of Howard and a sand processing plant in Chippewa Falls mined controversy for the better part of 2008.

The ongoing story was chosen as the Herald’s top local news story of 2008.

Canadian Sand and Proppant’s plans for a $60 million construction project of a sand processing facility in Chippewa Falls were announced May 29.

The newly incorporated company with ties to a Canadian firm planned to mine a particular kind of sand from Chippewa and Barron County locations and truck it to the processing plant. There, it would be washed and separated by grain size, then shipped out by rail for use in fracturing oil and natural gas wells in North America.

The plant was to employ about 20 people to start, the addition of 15 new jobs in a few years, plus perhaps 15 more jobs for truck drivers, excavation equipment operators and rail workers.

Almost immediately, the plans became controversial.

Officials in the town of Howard, where the sand was to be mined, quickly passed an ordinance to restrict mining activities in the township.

Citizens appeared at meetings in Howard to object to the proposed mine, citing fears of air and water pollution, dangerous levels of truck traffic, destruction of roads, lowering of property values and other concerns.

Opponents were not reassured by company arguments that there was not reason to fear air or water pollution.

It was unclear whether the town of Howard would grant Canadian Sand and Proppant a permit under its new ordinance, but in the fall, the company stopped pursuing a permit. The company, agreeing with an analysis from Chippewa County officials, claimed the town’s ordinance was invalid, as it was in effect a zoning law that requires county board approval.

The town claims its ordinance is valid and is prepared to file an injunction stopping any mining activity that commences without a permit.

Meanwhile, controversy heated up in Chippewa Falls, as opposition arose to the processing plant itself.

That controversy will spill over to 2009 as a lawsuit filed Nov. 14 against the Chippewa Falls Plan Commission and brought by the Concerned Chippewa Citizens winds its way through the legal system.

And there could be fallout politically, as four City Council members and Mayor Greg Hoffman will be up for election in April.

City Planner Jayson Smith said unless the lawsuit changes things, Canadian Sand and Proppant has all the city permits the company needs to go ahead with the building of a sand processing plant on the northeast side of Chippewa Falls, near the Lake Wissota Business Park.

The key issue in the lawsuit is the Oct. 27 granting on a voice vote of a conditional use permit by the city’s Plan Commission.

Canadian Sand and Proppant needed the permit to build structures higher than the city’s 60-foot height restriction. Silos on the plant site are set to be 96 feet tall.

Over 50 people turned up at the council’s meeting Nov. 18 to protest the Plan Commission’s decision.

Attorney Glenn Stoddard of Eau Claire, the lawyer representing Concerned Chippewa Citizens, that night outlined the lawsuit’s objectives:

n The lawsuit claims the Plan Commission went outside its jurisdiction in granting the permit;

n The lawsuit asks that the city be required to appoint a new Plan Commission;

n And the lawsuit would require the city’s Board of Appeals to hear a zoning variance.

The issue of whether the city should approve a developer’s agreement with Canadian Sand about the plant drew an overflow crowd to the council chambers Dec. 16. Both the council chambers and the adjacent hallway were full of opponents of the processing plant.

Twenty opponents spoke to the council, urging the defeat of the measure. Gary Stone, manager of the proposed plant, said the site will see an average of 250 trucks and 21 railroad cars a day.

In the end, council members Greg Dachel, Robert Hoekstra and council President Dennis Doughty voted for the developer’s agreement, while Jack Covill, Brian Flynn and Susan Zukowski voted against. Council member Jason Anderson voted present, leaving the decision to break the tie to Mayor Greg Hoffman.

He voted yes and the $1.75 million revenue bond for the project was approved.

Canadian Sand and Proppant will be responsible for repaying the bond in installments between 2011 and 2020.