## **Industrial Sand Mining in Western Wisconsin:** Resources for Environmental Monitoring and Advocacy This page is an introduction to frac sand issues and airborne particles, aimed at connecting concerned community groups, hardware developers, and scientists. You will find resources to: * connect with projects and people facing frac sand issues and particle pollution * learn about particle pollution, health, and regulations * explore options for addressing frac sand mining in your community ****** ### Table of Contents **Frac Sand Mining** | ----------------------|--------------------- [Background Information](https://publiclab.org/wiki/nonmetallicmining#Industrial+Sand+Mining) | This page gives information about the history of frac sand mining, what it is, what it is used for, and the environmental and human health concerns that surround it. [People and Places](wiki/wisconsin) | The first permitting for Frac Sand mining in Wisconsin started in late 2006 ([Pearson, 2015](http://wisconsinfracsand.blogspot.com/)). Since then, thousands of people have participated in the fight against the frac sand mining industry's negative effects. Learn more about the groups involved and what they are doing on the Wisconsin wiki page. [Particulate Matter Monitoring](/wiki/pm) | The PM Monitoring wiki includes information that explains how particles form in the air, how they affect human health, how they are regulated, and how they can be monitored. The wiki delves deep into different ways particles form with a focus on nonmetallic mining and [silica dust](https://publiclab.org/wiki/silica-monitoring). [Advocacy Leverage Points](https://publiclab.org/wiki/frac-sand-advocacy-leverage-points) | This wiki discusses regulations surrounding frac sand mining and highlights local government leverage points towns and community groups can use to address frac sand issues. From here you can also link to the [Frac Sand Legislation wiki](https://publiclab.org/wiki/frac-sand-legislation), which discusses national and state regulations and legislation related to air quality that are particularly relevant to frac sand issues. [Action Oriented Resources](https://publiclab.org/wiki/frac-sand-action-oriented-resources) | The Action Oriented Resources wiki compiles many tools people can use in addressing frac sand issues. There are workshops on selecting advocacy strategies, guidelines for setting up an environmental monitoring program, resources for working with the media, tools for reporting pollution and contact information for state and county regulators. ***** ### Recent activity related to frac sand mining: [notes:frac-sand] ***** #### Outline of Wiki Documents [Background Information](https://publiclab.org/wiki/nonmetallicmining#Industrial+Sand+Mining) [People and Places](wiki/wisconsin) [Particulate Matter Monitoring](/wiki/pm) - [Silica dust](https://publiclab.org/wiki/silica-monitoring) - [Regulations on PM Monitoring](https://publiclab.org/wiki/pm-monitoring-regulations) - [Collecting Data on Particulate Matter](https://publiclab.org/wiki/pm-monitoring) - [Visual monitoring](/wiki/visual-pm) - [Filter-based monitoring](/wiki/filter-pm) - [Optical monitoring](/wiki/optical-pm) - [Passive monitoring](/wiki/passive-pm) - [Public Lab PM monitoring tool development](/wiki/pm-dev) - [Passive monitoring tool](https://publiclab.org/wiki/SEM-stub-pm) [Advocacy Leverage Points](https://publiclab.org/wiki/frac-sand-advocacy-leverage-points) - [Frac Sand Legislation](https://publiclab.org/wiki/frac-sand-legislation) [Action Oriented Resources](https://publiclab.org/wiki/frac-sand-action-oriented-resources) - [Identify Advocacy Pathways Workshop](https://publiclab.org/wiki/choosing-advocacy-pathways) - [Start your own Environmental Monitoring Study](https://publiclab.org/wiki/start-enviro-monitor-study) - [Strategize a media campaign](https://publiclab.org/wiki/creating-a-media-campaign) **** ####Research in progress and Wikis Related to: [Silica](https://publiclab.org/tag/silica), [Particulate Matter](https://publiclab.org/tag/silica/tag/PM), [Passive-pm monitoring](https://publiclab.org/tag/passive-pm), [Wisconsin](https://publiclab.org/tag/wisconsin)....
Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
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mathew | "Minnesota DEP maps: " | Read more » | over 8 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "Thanks for this excellent report, Stevie " | Read more » | over 8 years ago | |||
mathew | "I found this great tutorial on automating ImageJ scripting and batch processing. It got me up and batch processing in short order: Arjun Mehta, UC..." | Read more » | over 8 years ago | |||
SimonPyle | "@marlokeno That's a great tip for eyeballing and catching dust. On that note, as I clean up a prototype of some code to automate this process, I'm..." | Read more » | over 8 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "@mathew, @SimonPyle, @AmberWise, @Damarquis, @Pagyebo Wonderful work- I can't imagine counting particles while sizing them, etc. So cheers to the ..." | Read more » | over 8 years ago | |||
mathew | "Wisconsin watch railway map: " | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
mathew | "I'm writing up an introduction to particles in the air right now (rough draft), and one of the questions I wanted to answer was about naked eye obs..." | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
gretchengehrke | "Powerful speech. " | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "@cfastie, @warren, @eustatic, and @martenskram- Thanks for your help clarifying ideas & procedures. As it's winter and cold, indoor air is ofte..." | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
cfastie | "In these experiments, the bubbler will increase the humidity in the chamber or room. That alone could reduce the dust in the air (by dampening the ..." | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
warren | "Very neat idea -- I guess I agree with Chris that it may not matter if diatoms metabolize the silica, if the silica is already transfered from the ..." | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
eustatic | "I'm unsure about the claims, but at least one vaccuum company advertises that its unit can 'wash' the air. Of course, the unit moves a larger volu..." | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "Thanks to Chris for some lucid suggestions. I have some questions, and ideas for improvements after reading your post. Question: I don't understan..." | Read more » | almost 9 years ago | |||
cfastie | "If bubbling room air through an aquarium removes some dust from the air (including some silica dust) then growing diatoms in the water is not requi..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "Thanks for sharing your expertise, @martenskram. I didn't know that bubblers were inefficient under 1-2 µm. Your information about flow & part..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
martenskram | "I hate to be pessimistic, but even a medium efficiency supply air filter is probably more effective in removing the dangerous particles (respirable..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "@eustatic -the graphic comes from a 1996 OSHA campaign, under then-sect'y of Labor, Robert Reich, who resigned in '97, he wrote, to spend more time..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
eustatic | "awesome effort. " | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
eustatic | "dope graphic " | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
mathew | "I'm working on creating a spreadsheet out of these equations. @Marlokeno it looks like I'm going to use Sutherland's gas law along with average te..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
mathew | "@Damarquis has notes on using ImageJ in windows and on thresholding: http://publiclab.org/notes/Damarquis/10-20-2015/using-imagej-to-analyze-thresh..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "One possibility in order to get a clearer image is to try using the "threshold" filter in photoshop, or photoshop elements, GIMP, etc. It's helped ..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "It is possible the wikipedia article on Reynolds numbers might help- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_number At any rate, the article does g..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago | |||
marlokeno | "There is an article in "Aeolian Research", Dec. 2014, entitled "The size distribution of desert dust aerosols and its impact on the Earth system." ..." | Read more » | about 9 years ago |