Are you concerned about the destructive impacts of frac sand mining in southeast Minnesota?

Do you want to learn more about the Environmental Impact Statement beginning this summer on 11 proposed mines in Fillmore, Houston and Winona counties, and help make sure this study includes the impacts that are of greatest concern to you? Please join with others to make your voice heard.

Attend the Land Stewardship Project’s

People’s EIS Kickoff Meeting

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

6:30 pm-9:00 pm (registration & snacks at 6 pm)

Montini Hall at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church,

103 N. Mill St. (Hwy. 43), Rushford, MN

The event is free of charge, but if you plan to attend, please RSVP to Johanna Rupprecht at 507-523-3366 or jrupprecht@landstewardshipproject.org.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is beginning this summer on 11 frac sand mines proposed in Fillmore, Houston and Winona counties by a company formed in 2012 known as Minnesota Sands. Under Minnesota state law, an EIS is intended to be a comprehensive study of the environmental impacts of a proposed project, along with its economic, employment and sociological impacts. It is much more in-depth than the brief Environmental Assessment Worksheets (EAWs) that have so far been done on parts of this proposed mining project (see below).

This EIS will be carried out by the Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a Minnesota state agency. The entire process will likely take a year or more, and the EQB is now in the very earliest stages, just beginning to set the scope of the study. EQB staff have met with Minnesota Sands’ representatives, but they have not yet heard from the people whose lives, homes and communities would be affected by these proposed mines.

We must speak up now to make sure the scope of the EIS includes all of the many concerns local people have about the destructive impacts of frac sand mining. 

This industry exists to benefit corporate oil and gas interests while threatening our health, safety, quality of life, air, water, farmland, wildlife habitat, trout streams, roads and bridges, property values, tourism and recreation, local economies, and more.

At the People’s EIS Kickoff Meeting, you will learn more about how an EIS works and how to be involved throughout the process. Most importantly, you will have the chance to share your concerns about the impacts of this proposed mining project on your home community and our broader region, and hear the concerns of neighbors in other affected communities. This input will be compiled into a report to be presented to the EQB to make sure the voices of local citizens are heard from the very beginning of the EIS process.

Did you submit a comment in February on the EAWs on the Yoder and Dabelstein mines?

When two of Minnesota Sands’ proposed mines (the Yoder and Dabelstein mines in Saratoga Township, Winona County) went through the EAW process this winter, the county received 75 comments from local citizens, state agencies and other experts overwhelmingly calling for an in-depth EIS. If you are one of those who commented, bring the issues you raised at that time to the People’s EIS Kickoff Meeting on July 9. If not, come anyway to share the concerns you have about the proposed mines in: Saratoga Township; Pilot Mound Township, Fillmore County; and Yucatan and Houston townships, Houston County. This proposed project would also have direct impacts on residents in a much broader area; the truck hauling routes and final sand processing destinations have yet to be disclosed for most of the mines.

If you have questions or to RSVP, contact LSP's Johanna Rupprecht at 507-523-3366 or jrupprecht@landstewardshipproject.org.