IF a frac sand mine is built in Winneshiek County, where is it MOST LIKELY to be built?

Despite the fact that Winneshiek County residents have been discussing frac sand mining operations for the past two years, there is currently NO proposal for a mining operation in Winneshiek County.

In fact, a moratorium remains in effect on any frac sand mining operations.  The moratorium was imposed to give time for the issue to be studied.  One of the groups involved in the study is the Iowa Center on Sustainable Communities, which has been coordinating studies by graduate students at the University of Iowa.

Monday morning those students reported to Winneshiek County supervisors on their work to determine where frac sand mines would be most likely located in Winneshiek County.  First they studied frac sand mining operations in Western Wisconsin, then studied Winneshiek County for the same characteristics as the Wisconsin counties with frac sand mining.

While the northeast quarter of Winneshiek County is where St. Peter Sandstone is found, any sand mine would also need to also be close to roads and railroads, as well as to employees.  That lead University of Iowa faculty member Dr. Kate Cowels to conclude, "Right near Decorah (is) the site with the highest probability for frac sand mining."

The conclusion presented Monday was based on what the University of Iowa graduate school students called "initial models."  They said the had used access to roads and railroads in Winneshiek County as an important part of their calculations--but not access to roads and railroads in Allamakee County or in Southeastern MInnesota.  They will run future models taking those variables into consideration.

The study of frac sand issues will continue through the end of the 2014-2015 school year at the University of Iowa.