Aggregate mine reclamation common, welcome practice

ARM aggregate producer members are environmentalists at heart and happily incorporate reclamation activities into their permitting conditions with local governing bodies. An example of this is Aggregate Industries and Nelson mine, which is located on Grey Cloud Island on the Mississippi. Here's a newsletter that features a story of that mine.

St. Croix River city faces decision on old mine site

On the bluffs above the St. Croix River, near the first Swedish settlement in Minnesota, a battle of wills is raging over efforts to excavate more than 1 million tons of sand and gravel from an old mine.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Conference looks at big picture of sand mining

It really is just sand. Very clean. Very hard. Very pure. Very uniform. Sand. Whether you call it silica sand, industrial sand or by its latest, most controversial appellation — frac sand — it’s big business in southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Read more in the Winona Daily News.

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.

Industrial sand concerns including water quality, monitoring

About 80 people gathered Monday afternoon at the Winona County History Center to talk about frac sand mining in the county.

"I know this is a hot issue that's on the minds of many people," said Jason Gilman, the county's community and environmental services director.

Monday's discussion ranged from land reclamation to concerns about potential effects on drinking water and the health of local residents.

Read more in the Winona Daily News.