Supervisors express interest in creating a "Resource Protection Overlay District" as a way to regulate possible frac sand mining

After hearing an hour-long summary of their research into frac sand mining, Winneshiek County supervisors are interested in establishing "Resource Protection Overlay Districts" as a way to protect Winneshiek County against unregulated frac sand mining.

Supervisor Dean Thompson's summary concluded that sandstone found in Winneshiek County could be extracted in the future...indeed "it would be naive" to think such sand mining would not happen.  He also noted that "current conditional use permit requirements (for mines) are not adequate."

But supervisors like the idea of creating Resource Protection Overlay Districts that are consistent with the county's Comprehensive Plan and with state and federal laws and regulations.

These districts could establish additional protections against problems caused by frac sand mining, such as the deterioration of roads, the deterioration of air quality and the contamination of groundwaters.

County officials are continuing to investigate issues involving frac sand mining, with more presentations scheduled in March and with summaries of the work of University of Iowa graduate student studies in May.