By LeAnn R. Ralph
TOWN OF HOWARD — Northern Sands Wisconsin, the company developing the 1,300-acre Albertville Valley sand mine several miles southeast of Colfax, plans to ask for changes to the reclamation permit Chippewa County issued in 2015.
Robin Koth, representing Northern Sands Wisconsin, spoke to the Howard Town Board at the February 4 meeting about the company’s plans to ask for changes to the reclamation permit and gave a brief update about the company’s progress on developing the frac sand mine.
Northern Sands Wisconsin is proposing to develop a frac sand mine southeast of Colfax that would stretch north and south along the Chippewa County and Dunn County line directly east of the intersection of county Highway N and county Highway A.
The mine site is expected to include a wet processing plant, a dry processing plant, rail car storage area and a rail loading facility.
The site is located along the Canadian National rail line which runs through Colfax.
The Chippewa County reclamation permit is “many years old” and changes should be made to the reclamation plan, Koth told the Howard Town Board and the approximately 30 people attending the meeting.
Permits
NSW has obtained a high-capacity well permit. The stormwater permit is pending until the final grading plan is completed, and the air permit also is pending the completion of the final plan, Koth said.
Before a sand mine could operate in the Town of Howard, Northern Sands Wisconsin must obtain a variety of permits and provide copies of those permits to the Town of Howard.
The permits include a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources construction site storm water discharge permit; a fugitive dust control plan as part of the DNR air emission permit; a high capacity well permit from the DNR and a Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System general permit.
Several plans also would be required, including a water conservation plan filed with Chippewa County; a storm water pollution prevention plan; and a spill response plan.
According to the proposed developer’s agreement with the Town of Howard, before extraction of sand can begin in any phase of the mining operation, or before the processing of the frac sand begins, Northern Sands Wisconsin must also provide to the Town of Howard plans related to the design and installation of surface water management systems; the design of process flow and sand conveyor systems; the design of berms to screen the operations; and a dust control plan and contingency plan.
Railroad
Canadian National Railroad is working on a conceptual layout of the rail yard, Koth said.
In the Phase I study, CN determined it was better to build a loop track rather than the ladder track included in the original plan, Koth said.
Canadian National will be directing when the rail cars are brought in and when they are shipped out, he said.
Sand is at a “low tide” right now because there is a “glut in Texas,” Koth said.
The oil drilling companies in Texas are using local sand from Texas sand dunes in their hydraulic fracturing operations rather than sand that has been shipped from Wisconsin.
Northern Sands Wisconsin has been receiving multiple inquiries every month about frac sand, Koth said.
The sand produced by the Albertville Valley sand mine would be shipped out by Canadian National Railroad to markets in Canada and on the East Coast of the United States, he said.
Baseline study
As part of the conditions for the reclamation permit issued in 2015, and as part of the requirements for the mine license issued by the Town of Howard in January of 2019, a baseline hydrologic inventory was required to be completed.
Northern Sands also is required to provide a hydrologic inventory map showing the location of seeps, springs, wetlands and surface water in the mine and on adjacent properties. The map is required to include streams with beds and banks.
Northern Sands Wisconsin missed several deadlines for completing the baseline hydrologic survey and submitting the report to Chippewa County.
When parts of the study were submitted, Chippewa County Land Conservation responded with letters detailing the additional information needed to make the report complete on March 13, 2018, and again on November 1, 2018.
The Colfax Messenger checked the Chippewa County Land Conservation website to find all of the documents associated with the Northern Sands Wisconsin non-metallic mine, and the last document uploaded to the website was the November 1, 2018, response to the baseline follow-up report.
The Colfax Messenger sent an e-mail message on February 5 to Dan Masterpole, director of the Chippewa County Land Conservation and Forestry Management Department and county conservationist, to find out if Northern Sands Wisconsin had completed the baseline studies as required.
Masterpole replied to the Messenger’s e-mail the same afternoon.
Northern Sands Wisconsin “has now met all permit conditions and is in full compliance,” Masterpole wrote.
Koth told the Howard Town Board at the February 4 meeting that while doing the surveys, it was discovered that certain property lines and boundary lines were “off.”
The incorrect information will have to be corrected in the mining plan and will have to be changed in the amendment to the reclamation plan, he said.
Koth did not give any details about what else — if anything — would be included in the amendment to the reclamation plan.
Next step
The next step will be to submit the amended reclamation plan to Chippewa County and to the Town of Howard, Koth said.
Northern Sands Wisconsin plans to hold an open forum for the public with information about the mining operation, including maps, he said.
Koth did not give any indication of when the open forum might be scheduled.
