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Chippewa Falls may be the one of the keys to stopping the rape of upper Northwst Wisconsin.
A Canadian Company, Canadian Sand & Proppants Inc. (CS&P) moved in under cover of money, bought land, annexed it to the city, and convinced the city council to rezone it for Heavy Industrial use. CS$P intends to build a sand plant within the city limits, to process Silica “Frac” Sand and ship it back to Canada for worldwide distribution. Undercover Agents for CS&P have been searching out farm land all over that has the unique type of sand used in “Hydraulic Fracturing” a relatively new controversial process used to extract oil and gas from locations that otherwise would be uneconomical to drill.
Concerned Chippewa Citizens, (www.ccc-wis.com) has been fighting the building of this proposed plant for over a year. If you can help, or have questions please leave us a comment.
Fracking, hydrofracking or hydro-fracking is the injecting of a slurry under extremely high pressure into solid rock. The slurry consists of specially sized silica sand particles mixed with noxious chemicals. The high pressure produces cracks in the rock into which the slurry enters.
When the pressure is removed, the sand particles remain, holding open the cracks, and allowing any oil or gas there to be extracted.
There is mounting evidence that this process is similar to a frontal lobotomy for the earth. It fractures all of the natural barriers between oil, gas, and water within the area. This can produce an emulsion like salad dressing, wherein the oil/gas and water can mix together with the proprietary chemicals the drilling companies refuse to disclose, and unfortunately this can pollute the local area’s water supply. When that happens the local wells can vomit noxious chemicals and methane gas along with the formerly clean water. Needless to say, drinking or bathing in that stuff is hard to stomach..
January 26, 2010 at 2:52 am |
Where is the Integrity and unbiased reporting in our local paper the Chippewa Herald? When I first decided to submit a letter to Your View I was told by several concerned citizens that they may not print it becaue it appeared they were biased in favor of Canadian Sand and Propants (CSP). My first letter was not edited but the second letter I sent two paragraphs critical of mining were edited and excluded from my letter. The paragraphs edited I considered to be an important part of my letter one of which mentioned that the Ladysmith Mine was leaching Heavy Metals into the Flambeau river far in excess of state standards. Certain local officials have been telling us how sucessful the reclamation of this mine has been. The last letter I submitted in December 2009 was not printed by the Herald at all. This letter mentioned how Frac Mining was polluting ground water in several states plus it also mentioned CSP’s Material Safety Data Sheet which mentions cancer caused by Crystalline Silica in the work place. So you can see that Herald reporting is not what it could be, is this lying by ommision? The people deserve unbiased reporting! Dale R McGraw
January 28, 2010 at 6:09 pm |
Corporate Suffrage or Subterfuge: To the Herald Telegram
Slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment in 1865 after 250 years of bondage. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally outlawed the impediments to the 15th Amendment of 1870. Seventy-four years following the Seneca Falls, NY Convention in 1846 women were granted suffrage by the 19th Amendment in 1920, 133 years after the Constitution was enacted in 1787. Tennessee ratified the amendment by one vote.
This month, five men voted to extend free speech to Corporations. With the replacement of the late Sen. Kennedy, just one man will defeat the struggle for universal health in this wealthy but debtor-nation. Free Clinics and ER visits, paid for by someone other than the acutely and chronically ill will continue indefinitely.
Perhaps freedom for Corporations might eliminate Lobbies but either way Money Talks loudly and clearly and always comes from the powerful and few. Yes Mr. Baker, the worms have turned, an unpalatable plate for the nation (HT 1/26/10). But for our community a miracle: an immigrant, heavy industrial mining Canadian Corporation will change sand into gold dust (HT 1/28/10).
Thomas Chisholm, MD
February 8, 2010 at 4:13 am |
I wonder how much more this plant will add to the tax rolls. I doubt that the city has calculated the specific costs related, let’s say, to the cost of fire and police protection, chemical spills and other hazmat type accidents. One entranceway to the operation? Will there be a need for purchasing extra equipment? extra police and fire dept. personnel needed? extra chemicals and special training in dealing with spills? rail accidents? diesel spills? emergency vehicles? Some think the county will pay the freight and be responsible, but this plant is in the city limits. The city must do a full study and report the information out to the city residents for they will be totally responsible for any additional help and purchasing of specialized equipment. Who will be the winner in this case. Looks like CSP wins hands down…………and who will be the losers………all the citizens of Chippewa Falls and Chippewa Co. who refuse to say anything and expect someone else to do it for them! Good luck, City of Chippewa Falls. Look carefully at your leadership and the skills available. There surely are some things lacking in the way business is conducted………and it isn’t in the placement of little green signs!!!!!!!
February 8, 2010 at 11:15 pm |
This whole mess has been a travesty. Are we to believe that people will only protest once they see the plant itself in all its glory? Then let them prepare for buildings and sand piles over half the height of our water towers, silica blowing across our prairie-like environment, diesel fumes from 250 round trips of trucks daily, and constant noise and light. While I’m as concerned about the need for jobs as anyone, silica mining and processing is not the answer. Keep reading the Wall Street Journal to find out how people are reacting to frac mining in different parts of the country.
February 9, 2010 at 5:32 am |
If one checked today’s WSJ, they would find an article on the long period of time it takes to approve mining in Michigan. In Wisconsin, “frac” mining is treated like opening a sand and gravel pit. When will the State of Wisconsin establish laws about mining frac sand that puts “teeth” into the operation that would make violation an offense and punishable to closing the operation. It is criminal to think what will happen in Chippewa Falls, WI when this plant starts operation. The mines will be pulled in from the countryside……..all 2.65 million tons of dry sand per year will be cleaned and sorted within the city limits of a small town with residents living all around the area. And where will the mines come from? From the rural agricultural areas. There will be hill top destruction to strip mine the soil……..sandstone and all to be brought to the city for crushing and cleaning and processing and shipping out to Canada so it can be brought back to the USA for use in the hydraulic fracturing process so we can live on so called clean natural gas. And what did we lose in the process?
March 23, 2010 at 11:42 am |
For thirty years I have lived in rural south central New York, two decades of which were in poverty. But there was always the countryside, the woods, the creeks and lakes and ponds, the birds, raccoons, deer and bear that gave solace. Now, retired after a twelve year stint teaching in New York City, I arrive home permanently to discover natural gas companies gearing up to “drill, baby, drill.” Documentaries such as A Split Estate, Rural Impact and What You Need to Know about Natural Gas Drilling along with OGAP’s book, Oil and Gas Drilling at Your Door and a stream of articles from Pennsylvania papers documenting gas drilling’s devastation there have chilled me to the core. Is a two year supply of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in New York worth centuries of contamination of earth and water, and countless illnesses and deaths of humans, dairy cattle, and wildlife? Wisconsinites and New Yorkers unite against this onslaught. I will be at my 50th college reunion in April at UW Madison if you want to work on grassroots activism! Call 607-895-6503.
May 13, 2010 at 7:13 pm |
The Herald Telegram (Editorial 5/11/2010 is fear mongering. The paper supports the Canadian Invasion, changing the topography of Chippewa County from hills and plains into deep sand mines, expecting gold from fractured silica and fresher air from diesel exhaust. The paper threatens those opposed to heavy industry and environmental metamorphosis with a law suit brought by CSP against the city if the Conditional Use Permit is reversed. Which is the more costly? A lawsuit to preserve our land, lakes, water and air while we look for enterprises that promote jobs from green energy and retain the profits locally–or–a dirty industry related to declining resources, oil and gas with the contamination and disasters that threaten Mother Earth and its creatures in mine shafts, drilling platforms and oceans.
May 31, 2010 at 3:11 pm |
It is important now that we know an oil and gas company is involved in this mess, that everyone show up at the City Council Meeting on June 3, 2010. There are no protections from any damages, injuries to people in the way of health, welfare and safety issues…………and no one who will take complete responsibility. As witnessed in the Gulf oil catastrophe, there is no one totally responsible yet the globe including people in Chippewa Falls will be suffering from the impact. And we should let this stuff continue to go on? Everyone will sacrifice…….and most of all, the greedy oil and gas companies including those involved in the proppant business need to incarcerated for their dastardly deeds. The people in our community must come forth………including those who feel they might lose business or might be frowned upon by someone considered “important” in status in this town. There is no one immune from the effects. The people who voted on this were not given all the information to make good decisions. All of that needs to be corrected by all of us in this town. Come forward, tell us all what you believe, and do what is right by your city, Chippewa County, and the entire NW part of this state. In addition, what happens here impacts the far reaches of the globe!