Chippewa Sand Company files application for reclamation permit to expand Cooks Valley sand mine to 1,085 acres

By LeAnn R. Ralph

TOWN OF COOKS VALLEY  —  Chippewa Sand Company LLC of New Auburn has filed an application with Chippewa County for a reclamation permit to expand an existing sand mine in the Town of Cooks Valley to 1,085 acres.

Chippewa County Land Conservation and Forest Management held a public informational hearing on the application June 26 in the Chippewa County Courthouse for the proposed mine site covering 1,085 acres, which currently has 142 acres active or disturbed.

The expanded sand mine is expected to operate for up to 60 years, according to the permit application.

The proposed expansion would occur on land owned by J&L Mining LLC (Bloomer), Robinson Panosian Mining LLC (Milwaukee), Thomas Short (Bloomer) and Anthony Pecha (Bloomer), and 27K Sand LLC (Birchwood) in Sections 8, 9 and 10 in the Town of Cooks Valley.

According to a Chippewa County Land Conservation and Forest Management map, Cooks Valley has four sand mines: Preferred Sands (225 acres, known as the LaGesse Mine); Chippewa Sand Company (176 acres, known as the Buchner/Robinson Mine); EOG Resources 274 acres, known as the DS Mine); PurFrac (690 acres, known as the PurFrac mine).

Plans for expanding the Chippewa Sand Company mine include mining in Phases 1 through 13. Phase 1 includes the existing stormwater management system, and additional mining may occur in Phase 1 after the existing stormwater management system is removed and a new system is constructed and fully functional, according to the mine reclamation permit application.

Future mining is proposed to include contemporaneous reclamation with the overburden used for reclamation and not stored in stockpiles and screening berms.

Here is some of the other information included in the permit application:

• The stormwater management system will discharge to a vegetated drainage swale. The large retention pond, approximately five acres, will be six feet deep. The infiltration pond will be about a half acre with a maximum depth of two feet.  The large pond will be designed to retain a 100-year 24-hour precipitation event.

• Surface water flow will be diverted away from the active mining areas where possible using berms and swales as necessary.

• Trees will be planted five years in advance of proposed mining within 1,000 feet of County Road A and 50th Street.

• Materials that will be excavated include topsoil, overburden, Tunnel City Formation bedrock overburden and Wonewoc Sandstone. The Tunnel City is present at higher elevations than the Wonewoc and is fine-to-medium grained and is not a target for mining. Wonewoc is the target mineral and is present between elevations of 1,200 feet and 1,100 feet.

• Raw sand will be screened, sorted and washed at the wash plant on site and then transported to an off-site facility for further processing.

• Water draining off the stockpile will be captured in drain tiles and piped to the freshwater ponds to be recycled. Currently wash water is pumped through a filter press to remove the solids and the water is recycled. The removed solids are typically used for mine reclamation.

• The mine is expected to produce 24 million cubic yards of overburden and 69 million cubic yards of sand.

• Mining is not proposed below the groundwater table, which is estimated at elevations of 1,030 to 1,070 feet, so dewatering will not be required.

• Prior to off-site discharge of stormwater, a Notice of Intent will be submitted for coverage under the General Permit to Discharge under the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit (WPDES). The WPDES General Permit requires Best Management Practices for the control of soil erosion and sedimentation to be designed, installed and maintained in accordance with the construction site performance standards in NR151.

• Mining may continue for 60 years, and at the completion of the mining, all surface structures and facilities will be removed. Ponds, berms and other earthen features will be graded. The entrance and the paved road will be restored to match the planned reclamation.

• The mine site will remain private property with no public access.

• The future land use of the site will be for recreation and wildlife habitat. The final reclamation use is not intended to be suitable for agricultural use or row cropping.

• Site revegetation will be to claim disturbed acreage to recreation and wildlife habitat with a grassland, prairie, and forest savannah land cover. The seed mix will contain 20 native prairie forbs (flowering plants) and five native prairie grasses. Trees and shrubs will be suitable for local climate conditions. Tree stock will be six-inch to 12-inch or taller seedlings.

• The Annual Reclamation Report and Activities Plan will be filed with the Chippewa County Department of Land Conservation & Forest Management for each calendar year by January 31.

• Financial assurance in the form of a surety bond or an irrevocable letter of credit meeting the requirements of the Chippewa County Nonmetallic Mining Reclamation Ordinance and NR135 is required throughout the life of the mine. The financial assurance will be estimated annually. For mining completed through December of 2017, the financial assurance was estimated to be $2,175,250, which includes a 10 percent markup for Chippewa County administration of design and reclamation oversight.