An ordinance written by Dane County policy makers to give residents a voice in mining site regulations has now entered the negotiation stage to ensure support from all town representatives.
The current ordinance, passed in 1969, cleared approximately 100 locations in Dane County for mining without going through the permitting process that other mines or quarries are required to complete, according to Dane County Executive Assistant Casey Becker in a press release. The new ordinance would mandate 34 of the 100 sites to obtain a conditional use permit.
“Well the issue with these is that they’re not being mined,” District 11 Dane County Supervisor Al Matano said. “The worry is that they could be started up at any moment. Essentially they’re dormant sites because once quarried, they could be activated without going through a permitting regime.”
Dane County Board officials worry that reactivated dormant sites will pose as a danger for neighboring residences and environments. Sharon Corrigan, County chair, said the conditional use permit grants residents control over “dust levels, health concerns and noise levels” along with determining who pays for land damage fees as a result of mining.
Leland Pan, District 5 Supervisor, said another concern is non-permit sites allowing frac sand mines to open without consent from nearby residents. Frac sand mines are used to obtain sand deposits that are necessary for extracting natural gases when hydrofracking, according to Pan.
“There are a lot of health concerns regarding particular sands getting in the air ... and, of course, there are just concerns with promoting the fracking industry in that sort of way,” Pan said.
County supervisors are currently consulting with town representatives to negotiate the language of the ordinance and ensure that every town is in compliance. Becker said the process could take months before the county comes to an agreement.
“It’s better to have it take longer and find success than to rush it through and have the towns say ‘no’ anyways,” Matano said. “We’re trying to be diplomatic about it.”
