Update

Over the past month or so I've been getting in touch with some friends in the Midwest area who are fighting against the frac sand mining issue. I was interested in learning what people's thoughts were on current challenges, ideas for next steps, and pathways forward. It was great to catch up, and it would be even better to loop in with more people, but in the meantime, here are some so the ideas I was hearing:

Recent work

Some of the recent work people had been supporting includes:

• Water quality monitoring with the University of Wisconsin stream monitoring program (Mary),
• Submitting comments on air quality permits, and compiling information for outreach (Pat),
• Working on aerial surveillance of mines and focusing karst landscape and groundwater survey (Forest),
• Chairing and highlighting community concerns in township meetings, and setting up a Purple Air air quality monitor for real time data (Dwight)
• Air quality monitoring program around proposed mine site with FRM Standard equipment, working with schools on leadership programs for involvement in the frac sand issue, and supporting projects that dive into the concerns around frac sand mining with Save the Hills Alliance (Cheryl).

Also of note, Glenn, who has worked for years to oppose the mine in Ludington MI, has his advocacy work on hold as the state works on negotiations to buy property from the company who has been mining in his area.

Opportunities Identified:

There were three overlapping areas of opportunities people mentioned and brainstormed around in moving forward around the frac sand issue. One was in compiling materials for individuals to use in reporting complaints, a second was in using low cost air quality tools such as the Purple Air which report in real time, and the third was in exploring more around nuisance violations particularly in noise. Other pathways forward individuals brought up included showing up in person at air quality permit hearings (Pat), continued water quality work (Mary), gathering well water data in an online database (Forest), and monitoring around a new mining site that has baseline data once operations begin (Cheryl).

Compiling reporting materials:

Pat, Mary, Dwight, and Cheryl all spoke to the idea of compiling reporting materials both in paper form, and sharing how to report in a workshop format. Here were some of the opportunities, challenges and further brainstorming people mentioned in regard to idea:

Low cost air quality monitors The second idea a couple people brought up was using low cost air quality monitors that offer real time data. A few people specifically referred to the Purple Air as an option:

Nuisance- noise and light pollution Another idea a couple people had was around monitoring for noise and for light pollution:

Next Steps:

There are some clear overlaps on ideas, and a good start on some brainstorms for what could go into this work. A good next step might be to get on the phone and dive deeper into some of these pathways. What do you think?