Sand Land: Fracking Industry Mining Iowa's Iconic Sand Bluffs in New Form of Mountaintop Removal

[unhappycamper]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/16111-sand-land-fracking-industry-mining-iowas-iconic-sand-bluffs-in-new-form-of-mountaintop-removal



Sand Land: Fracking Industry Mining Iowa's Iconic Sand Bluffs in New Form of Mountaintop Removal
Wednesday, 01 May 2013 10:40
By Steve Horn, DeSmogBlog | Report

Within immediate vicinity of a central battleground of the Black Hawk War of 1832, land rife with a resource necessary for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is in the crosshairs of an industry prepared to turn the area into a battle zone once again.

The resource? Frac sand -- officially known by the industry as fine-grained silica sand -- used as a proppant when blasted thousands of feet down the well during the ecologically volatile fracking process as part of the chemical cocktail that serves as the subject of Josh Fox’s new documentary film, “Gasland 2.”

The rolling hills of Northeastern Iowa’s Allamakee County defy the state’s stereotypical flat-land geography, and local residents boast of the serene beauty and rich geological history. Yet those same bluffs also play host to robust reservoirs of frac sand.

In order to extract the frac sand, mining corporations have adopted a method of newfangled mountaintop removal of sorts, blasting away entire hills laced with this frac sand to access this new “prize.” While devastating the landscape, it’s justified by Big Oil as necessary because the Midwest’s unparalleled geological characteristics have transformed it into a “New Saudi Arabia for frac sand.”

[Frustratedlady]

1. This makes me sick. Can we stop it? eom

[highplainsdem]

2. Link to the original article (with photos) at DeSmogBlog:

http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/04/30/sand-land-fracking-industry-mining-iowa-s-iconic-sand-bluffs-new-mountaintop-removal

[emmadoggy]

3. I live in Allamakee county.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I was unaware of this until just recently - I heard about the moratorium. I don't even have the words to describe what a travesty this would be. Allamakee county is one of the most beautiful places in the state of Iowa. The destruction of that beauty would be devastating, to say nothing of the destruction of habitat for bald eagles and countless other wildlife, and the health concerns to people. As mentioned in the article, the link to the practice of fracking is dismaying, as well. This area is home to the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge, Yellow River State Forest, Pikes Peak State Park, and Effigy Mounds National Monument.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effigy_Mounds_National_Monument
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Mississippi_River_National_Wildlife_and_Fish_Refuge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driftless_Area_National_Wildlife_Refuge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River_State_Forest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikes_Peak_State_Park

I desperately hope this mining can be stopped. Here are some of my pics of Allamakee county:

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo 100_3873.jpg"/></a>

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_1401.jpg"/></a>

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_1352.jpg"/></a>

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo 100_3889.jpg"/></a>

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo 100_2323.jpg"/></a>

[limpyhobbler]

4. nobody is safe. This industry doesn't ever restrain itself. They have no values other than money.

They won't ever stop until they meet resistance that is more powerful than they are. So that has to be us.

[Nihil]

5. That is the ruling class mentality across every industry:

> They have no values other than money.

When you have so much money that you simply buy the laws or exceptions that
you want, the concepts of democracy, oversight or control have been bypassed.