Turns out our sand is valuable

Steve Witt has lived atop the sands of Monroe County for more than 60 years and remembers when the stuff wasn't good for anything but growing pine trees. "We tried all kinds of things with it, " said Witt. "You'd cut the weeds down, (but) you couldn't even grow hay."

Turns out, nowadays, it can help "grow" something a lot more surprising, and valuable: abundant - and cheap - natural gas. Wisconsin is nowhere close to any of this country's natural gas deposits. But western Wisconsin and part of Minnesota hold the key to capturing it. We have the best - or at least the most accessible - "frac sand" in the entire world.

Read more in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Vergas would benefit from aggregate bill

A legislative bill has been introduced that if passed would allow the city of Vergas to impose an aggregate materials tax if Otter Tail County does not implement the tax. Under wording in the bill, the city of Vergas would be deemed to be the county for purposes of collecting the tax. All revenues would be retained by the city.

Read more in the Fergus Falls Journal.

Scandia: Gravel pit environmental report to be considered by council

Reopening a sand and gravel pit near the St. Croix River in Scandia could generate as many as 560 truck trips a day during periods of heavy mining, according to an environmental report. The report, expected to be approved for release by the Scandia City Council tonight, should concern all nearby residents, said Pam Arnold, a spokeswoman for TA-COS, or Take Action-Conserve Our Scandia, a group formed three years ago to oppose the plan.

Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Rosemount UMore Park gravel mining input sought

Rosemount residents will have their first opportunity next week to provide public comment to city officials on the proposed massive gravel mining operation at UMore. . . . Dakota Aggregates, a partnership between Cemstone Products. Co. and Ames Construction, Inc., seeks an amendment to the city's zoning ordinance.

Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

City column: Decisions coming on gravel mining

Important decisions are coming up for the city of Rosemount on gravel mining proposed for the western one-third UMore Park. And the public will get to have its say during the process.

Read more in Rosemount Town Pages.

Should locals have power to staff controversial projects?

Weeks of classic grass-roots organizing paid off this month in tiny Ortonville Township, when the board of supervisors voted to delay a proposed gravel pit that would destroy some of the stunning granite formations and rare ball cactuses near the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription may be required):

Aggregate production up slightly in third quarter

An estimated 619 million metric tons (Mt) of total aggregates were produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the third quarter of 2011, a very slight increase compared with that of the same period of 2010, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The estimated production for consumption in the first nine months of 2011 was 1.48 billion metric tons (Gt), a slight decrease compared with that of the same period of 2010.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

NSSGA applauds House passage of bill halting expansion of federal dust regulations

The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association commends the U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R.1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act, a bill to protect producers of resource-based products, including aggregates, as well as farmers and ranchers, from increased regulation of a naturally occurring substance.

Read more on the NSSGA website.

Proposed Gravel Pit Causes Concerns Along St. Croix River

Some residents are concerned about the environmental impact of reopening a gravel pit near Scandia along the St. Croix River.

Scandia City Administrator Anne Hurlburt tells KSTP.com the gravel pit is located east of Highway 95 at Highway 97. The 114 acre site sites between the highway and the St. Croix River.

Read more on the KSTP website.

How to comment on proposed gravel pit

If you're concerned about S.M. Hentges & Sons' plan to create a gravel pit along Valley View Drive, here are a few facts, as well as ways to comment on the project.

Ready more in the Jordan Independent.

Approval nears for gravel mine near historic ranch

Visitors to the historic ranch of Theodore Roosevelt secluded in the Badlands may soon be seeing a gravel mine across the Little Missouri River.

The U.S. Forest Service is in the process of approving a gravel operation on a $5.3 million ranch it acquired four years ago from the Eberts family to preserve a cattle range once associated with Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch.

Read more in The Bismarck Tribune.

Mower County Gravel Pit Owner fined $19,000 by MPCA

Lawrence Hansen, who owns and operates a gravel-mining business near Rose Creek in Mower County, has agreed to pay a $19,000 penalty to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for allegedly violating solid waste laws by disposing of concrete, plastic and other materials in ponds at his gravel pit facility.

Read more on the MPCA website.

Goodhue advisory panel rejects sand mining moratorium

The Goodhue County Planning Advisory commission has recommended that county commissioners deny a moratorium on silica sand mining, despite resident opposition to the method.

The issue came up earlier this year when Windsor Permian, a division of Oklahoma-based Windsor Energy, bought 155 acres near Red Wing for $2.6 million.

Read this Minnesota Public Radio story.

County approves $150K for gravel pit

After criticisms from citizens about the condition of the country road system at a meeting early in August, the Stevens County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved $150,000 to open a new gravel pit in Horton Township at their meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

"As I look at [the gravel situation] and we start negotiations with the landowners to open a new pit, I thought it would be wise to bring forth to the board the idea of opening and crushing this pit this fall," said County Engineer Brian Giese.

Read more in Morris Sun Tribune.

U finalizes mining deal for UMore Park property in Rosemount, Empire Township

Nearly 200 million tons of gravel and sand sit under the soil in the western edge of UMore Park. For now.

The University of Minnesota and Dakota Aggregates LLC this week finalized its 40-year agreement for aggregate mining on the university's massive property in Rosemount and Empire Township.

Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

440 apartment units planned for Arbor Lakes gravel mine area

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a Florida development company has submitted plans for a new, large-scale apartment community in the gravel mine area of Maple Grove near Arbor Lakes. The city council approved a development concept by LeCesse which calls for 440 rental units in a pair of four-story buildings over 24 acres.

Read more.

Anger over plans for gravel pit, asphalt hot-mix plant on Highway 34

A Brainerd asphalt company ran into a boiling cauldron of opposition Tuesday over plans to open an existing gravel pit across Highway 34 from the Twin Haven mobile home park.

Anderson Brothers Construction, which specializes in asphalt and bituminous paving, came before the Becker County Planning Commission to request a conditional use permit to mine sand and gravel, crush gravel, and operate a temporary hot mix asphalt plant on the Harold and Marlene Hickel property in Erie Township, about 7 miles east of Detroit Lakes.

Read more in the Detroit Lakes Tribune.

Proposed Jordan gravel pit gets further review

After months of review, debate and controversy, the Scott County Board is ordering an environmental review of a proposed gravel pit near Jordan.

Opponents, including members of the Jordan City Council, say the pit could create danger from flooding, groundwater contamination, road damage and air pollution.

Read more in today's Star Tribune.

Gravel and sand deposits may be decades away from depletion

Scott County does not have the richest aggregate resources in the metro area, so what it does have is even more important, experts say.

Gravel and sand deposits might be only decades away from depletion in the Twin Cities area, many of them covered by development. A map in Shakopee, for instance, shows low-end townhomes built during the housing boom over aggregate deposits.

The proposed S.M. Hentges & Sons Inc. mining site near Jordan has stirred opposition due to the trucking route’s impacts on residential homes. Politicians will also have to weigh the alternative cost: extra damage to local roads and higher construction costs should gravel have to be hauled in from outside the county.

Read more in the Jordan Independent.

Scandia allowing more time for review of proposed gravel pit

According to Minnesota Public Radio today, the city of Scandia is allowing more time for environmental review of a proposed gravel pit that will be located on a bluff overlooking the St. Croix River.

Tiller Corporation, which has spent a year and half on the study so far, wants to reopen an old gravel pit there and has told the city it will return the land to a more natural state once the aggregate has been mined.

Some residents are opposed to the mine, saying it's too close to the river.