Sand project to eat up wetlands
Plans call for plant in west Wisconsin
State and federal regulators are reviewing plans for an industrial sand plant in western Wisconsin that would represent the largest loss of wetlands for a single sand project in Wisconsin since at least 2008.
Meteor Timber, the largest private landowner in the state, is proposing to build a sand-drying plant along I-94 in Monroe County and a sand mine in neighboring Jackson County.
Together, the projects are valued at $65 million and would create nearly 100 jobs. With nearly 50,000 acres in forest holdings in the state, Meteor would be making its first entry into a business sector catering to the petroleum industry.
To build the plant, Meteor says it would have to eliminate 16.6 acres of wetlands. Much of the property includes land that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official describes as pristine forested wetlands.
By comparison, since 2008 the Department of Natural Resources has issued 60 wetlands permits to sand operators, which allowed for the destruction of 26 acres of wetlands, according to DNR figures.
Meteor’s sole project represents more than 60% of that total.
Sand mining grew rapidly with the
boom in hydraulic fracturing, but more recently it has struggled as oil prices fell.
A Madison-based environmental law firm has criticized the project because of the loss of wetlands. It’s also questioned the need for the facility when the industry’s fortunes have ebbed.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also has filed comments with the Corps of Engineers, asking Meteor to provide more details on how the company would try to avoid wetlands.
Meteor says the project is economically viable, and a company official says the efforts it would be taking to preserve land in the project would make up for the loss.
Sand would be mined and washed in Jackson County on Meteor-owned land and trucked 14 miles to the sand drying plant. Meteor would construct a 10-mile railroad spur to a Union Pacific line, which serves Texas oil fields.
Western Wisconsin’s prized sand is used for “fracking” — a drilling technique where water, sand and chemicals are injected into shale rock. Sand helps keep fractures open.
State law requires that disturbing wetlands be avoided when possible. The Corps has similar requirements. In two separate regulatory proceedings, Meteor is trying to convince the DNR and the Corps that alternative locations are not suitable.
The process is further ahead with DNR regulators.
One advantage for the company with state regulators is a change in Wisconsin wetlands law in 2012 that allows a developer to limit a search
for alternative sites if a project shows “demonstrable public economic benefits.” The change was backed by business groups but opposed by environmentalists.
The Corps does not have such language, but the agency says it considers economic benefits.
Lawyer Sarah Geers of Midwest Environmental Advocates said she and others will be watching how the Corps handles the case under President-elect Donald Trump, “to see if there is the same stringent enforcement that there has been in the past.”
Wetlands play a critical role in flood control, fish and wildlife habitat and for outdoor recreation. Wetlands also store carbon, a greenhouse gas. The DNR says Wisconsin has lost 47% of its 10 million acres of wetlands since European settlement, reflecting a national trend.
Midwest Environmental Advocates, a public interest law firm, is urging the Corps and the DNR to deny the permit and reopen the public comment process. They are representing the Ho-Chunk Nation, which has tribal trust lands in the area.
Geers questioned why other sites could not be found for the project. She also cited DNR figures showing employment in sand mining peaked at 840 with 27 facilities in 2014 followed by 249 layoffs at five facilities in 2015.
“If other facilities along this line have decreased or ceased production, there is no need to fill additional wetland acres to build another facility,” Geers said in comments filed with the Corps.
Geers, in an interview, said there is a “potential to lose more important wetlands in an area that has already lost a lot because of sand mining. It’s been incremental, but this is the biggest.”
Meteor’s property includes more than 13
acres of hardwood swamp. Wisconsin officials have informed the Corps that some of the land “is pristine — they’ve never been touched,” said Jeffrey M. Olson, a section chief for the Corps in northwestern Wisconsin.
Because of this, Olson said, the wetlands provide important ecological functions that are hard to duplicate.
“Our basic concern is why certain other sites are not feasible that have less wetland impacts,” he said.
Meteor is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Timberland Investment Resources.
Timberland purchased 49,535 acres of Wisconsin forest land from Plum Creek Timber in 2014.
Meteor discovered large sand deposits in Jackson County — an estimated 111 million tons that could be mined over the next five decades, according to documents filed with the DNR.
Attorney John Behling of Eau Claire is handling regulatory issues in the case. He is vice president of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and was appointed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Behling provided a statement from the company on its plans.
“Meteor Timber is sensitive to wetland impacts and has worked to find better alternatives,” said Christopher Mathis, managing director of real estate. “This is the only commercially viable site for the project and our proposal is a winwin for the environment and the state.”
If the project proceeds, it would preserve 358 acres on the property. Meteor also would shut down a cranberry marsh in an area that was once a wetland. The company cites its plans to remove dams from the cranberry operation and naturalize a creek on the property. Meteor also would make payments to restore wetlands in the same watershed.
Meteor analyzed eight other locations, according to DNR documents, but found no other suitable sites.
According to documents, Meteor consultant John T. Boyd of Pittsburgh says sand mining must be looked at as a long-term investment spanning decades. He said sand consumption in North America peaked in 2014. But in the downturn, he said, the Texas oil market has performed better than other regions such as North Dakota because of lower operating costs. Meteor’s sand is bound for Texas.
Another factor cited by the company: A cranberry farmer who is planning on selling his land to Meteor for the project has vowed to log the hardwood swamp because of financial problems if the company can’t build there.
The grower faced violations with the EPA in the 1990s for filling in wetlands. According to documents, as part of the settlement he was required to spend $326,000 to protect wetlands in the same watershed.