Dear Senator Marty and Representative Hortman, Thank you for holding the public hearing last Tuesday

on Frac Sand mining. I had prepared my own testimony, but decided due to time constraints, that it was more important to provide the information from Justin Zmyewski, Chair of the Houston County Board of Commissioners. Since Tuesday, the attached report has come to my attention. Because the demand for frac sand is generated by the hydraulic fracturing industry, it seemed important information for you to consider. As this information is being delivered electronically, I have provided links to reference material that you and your staff may find useful. Here are my comments: I was appointed back in March of 2012 to the Houston County Frac Sand Study Committee, and have studied this industry ever since. Thank you for the opportunity to share what Ive learned. Before going into frac sand mining in Houston County, its important to consider a policy statement issued last July by a major American insurance company, Nationwide. It stated From an underwriting standpoint, we do not have a comfort level with the unique risks associated with the fracking process . . . They now decline coverage for related activities. Hauling frac sand is a related activity. If anyone understands how to assess risk, its an insurance company. The industry has said: Sand is sand. Theyve said it has been mined safely for hundreds of years, that there has never been a reported non-occupational health impact from environmental exposure to silica dust. Thats because exposure has only been studied in the occupational setting. And, until the frac sand frenzy started, there wasnt the volume of silica dust floating around in public areas that now exists. Last May, OSHA issued a hazard alert regarding exposure to silica dust at fracking sites, listing the third of seven primary sources as On-site vehicle traffic, such as sand trucks. The difference between the construction sand industry and the frac sand industry is magnitude, scale and volume. Frac sand mines operate 14 hours/day, 6 days/week, 12 months/year, and transport millions of tons of sand on township, county, state and federal roads. At this magnitude, does exposure to dangerous silica dust exceed the casual exposure touted by the industry? It can take decades for disease to develop; diseases like silicosis, cancer, COPD, all potentially fatal. Silica dust aside, the enormous increase in heavy truck traffic will cause a considerable increase in diesel exhaust, as well as safety hazards on our roads. Heres what the industry has said about processing sand using chemical flocculants: Polyacrylamide is perfectly safe; it is used in water treatment plants. A study done at the Naval Medical Research Institute at Wright-Patterson AFB proved polyacrylamide degrades to acrylamide. The study stated, In an agricultural setting, the degradation of polyacrylamide to acrylamide creates a potential environmental/health hazard (i.e., contamination of surface water and/or ground water systems). Acrylamide is a neurotoxin. The EPA limit on acrylamide in public drinking water is ZERO. Most of the Wisconsin sand mines are not in Karst geological areas unlike southeastern Minnesota. In Karst geology, there are sinkholes. These sinkholes allow contaminants to quickly enter the aquifers that provide our drinking water. The industry has said that frac sand mining will create jobs. It is not clear they created all the jobs promised in Wisconsin nor if those jobs went to Wisconsin residents. What they dont talk about is the jobs and businesses this industry will destroy. Reclamation by throwing a couple of inches of topsoil over mine sites will render the land unfarmable for years to come. Farming and logging jobs will be lost. Natural fish and game habitats will be destroyed. Jobs and businesses built up around hunting, fishing, logging, sports, recreation and tourism will be lost. According to a 2010 DEED report from June, 2007 - May, 2008, tourism and recreation accounted for 802 million dollars spent in Southeast Minnesota. Who wants to go bike riding or horseback riding, or walking and hiking in an area where the air is filled with toxic silica dust? Who wants to vacation in an area pockmarked by enormous gaping strip mines? The industry has said that frac sand mining and fracking will help our country become energy independent. It is not our country that produces oil and gas. It is multinational corporations such as Exxon-Mobil and BP. These

companies then sell their product to the highest bidder on the global commodities market. The price at the pump depends on global demand, much of which comes from growing industrial markets like India and China. The price is also susceptible to the vagaries of futures traders in the commodities market. The only way to achieve true energy independence is to conserve carbon fuels and expand renewable energy sources. Are you prepared to allow the contamination of our drinking water and sacrifice the health and safety of residents, the basis of our economies, and the extraordinary beauty of our bluffs for the profit of multinational companies, commodities futures traders, and a few landowners willing to ravage their own land? Our Environmental Services Department in Houston County has four employees, including two clerical workers. They are charged with everything from garbage collection and recycling, to administering every ordinance in our 193-page ordinance book. This industry poses issues that are beyond their ability to assess without the help of the state in providing guidance and a clear time-out. It is time for the state to call that time-out to give us the time to catch up to the industry and regulate it appropriately. It is time for the state to do a comprehensive GEIS to study the impact this industry will have on our communities. It is time to develop statewide permitting to set a floor for regulation and permit fees that local governments can use as a basis for their own regulation, which they must have the freedom to align with their own unique characteristics. I urge you to do the right thing. Take the steps that will help protect the health, safety and welfare of Minnesota residents.

Sincerely,

Kelley Stanage 4890 County 9 Houston, MN 55943