The Sand Sentinel Program is aimed at creating an easier way for people to collect and file reports on suspected permit violations by frac sand mining companies.

Background

Due to its use in fracking, the frac sand mining industry has been plaguing communities in western Wisconsin for many years. In September 2018, a number of people from around the Midwest who are fighting frac sand mining issues hosted check-in meetings on how things were going, sharing notes on some projects to date and ideas on pathways forward people were seeing that were new, or could use some more attention (see notes here and here). The Sentinel Program, originally conceived of by @Pat was highlighted as an opportunity.

Goals

The goals of this project are to make frac sand mining industry violations easier for people to spot and understand, and to increase accountability and transparency in reporting.

Video introducing this program:

(link to video on youtube)

Links shared in this video:

• WI DNR Reporting Form page online
• DNR Air Permit Search
• Wisconsin Public Health Department Search
• Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association local contacts * note county Land and Water conservation groups mainly deal with water-related reporting around the frac sand mining sites
• Purple Air (local air monitoring) map for western WI

Sentinel Materials

The sentinel materials are available in print. Email stevie@publiclab.org to request your copy. The materials can also be printed out from this page.

Materials can also be found online here:

1) Frac Sand Mining Pollution Incident Report Form and Guide

2) Observable air quality violations related to frac sand mining

3) Observable water quality violations related to frac sand mining

4) Observable transportation violations related to frac sand mining

5) Local reporting on frac sand mining issues

Materials to run a training on the Sentinel Materials can be found here

People who are involved

• Pat Popple (@pat) for originating the project idea and mentoring,
• Lemmy Kamau (@kamau19) for his work researching Wisconsin Policies related to frac sand mining,
• Dwight Swenson (@dswenson) for sharing reporting and affidavit materials,
• Avery Van Gaard for her work on the Suspected Violations Information Form
• The Midwest Environmental Advocates for their review and materials on: REPORTING CONCERNS AND POTENTIAL VIOLATIONS TO THE WDNR
• Participants at the Project Outreach event in Arcadia April 13th, 2019,
• Professor Crispin Pierce (@crispinpierce) and his research team including Orion Allgaier (@OrionAllgaier), Connor Barns (@Cbarnes9), for their feedback on reporting monitoring notes,
• @stevie, @joyofsoy and @warren at Public Lab,
• And to others who contributed ideas, information, and editing, including Heather Anderson (@Wicca), Cheryl Miller, Mary Kenosian (@marlokeno), Forest Jahnke, Glory Adams (@gloryaec), Sheila Danielson, and more.

Activities we've done in our project

2021

• Host an online training of the Sentinel Program

2020

• CANCELED due to COVID: A second Sentinel Program training in Chippewa County, WI (March 2020)
• Ran a larger print run of the folder materials
• Finalized the draft reporting form materials

2019

• Hosted a fellowship to sift through Wisconsin specific policies that could create observable permit violations,
• Compiled a draft reporting form with information on what could be collected to support people's observations,
• Collaborated with partners and residents around Wisconsin and other parts of the country, and
• Created draft reporting form folder materials
• Drafted training materials for sharing on how to use the folder
• Piloted an in-person training,

2018

• Began project scoping
• Collected materials people have used in the past in filing suspected violations,
• Compiled a list of violations that could be observable by people,
• Collected resources on where materials can be reported to,

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