description: #0101DF Name: Jessica Lien About: Scroll to keep reading When Jessica Lien heard the mine was coming, she was not pleased. The Liens built a house in 2009 on about four acres outside of Blair before learning of the mine. The location was a perfect compromise — her husband wanted to live in the country and she wanted to be close to town. Today Preferred Sands owns land on two sides of their property, though the mine’s edge is about a three-quarters of a mile away. Lien said she worried that if the company starts blasting behind their house, it would damage the foundation. In Jessica's words: “We’re stuck here. No one is going to want to buy a house next to a mine.” Color: |
description: #FF0040 Name: Michael Benedict About: Scroll to keep reading The Benedicts built their log house on top of a bluff about a year before a mine arrived. It was their dream home and the place they hoped to retire. Their land is now surrounded on three sides by property owned by Preferred Sands. Michael Benedict owns an auto-parts store that sells industrial supplies to three frac sand mining companies, including Preferred Sands. The company has always been easy to work with, he said, and the increase in business has allowed him to hire one-and-a-half full-time employees. Benedict said if the company starts blasting on the back side of his property it would “have to” buy his land. He conceded that he has no property worth mining, so the company buying him out would be “a good-faith thing.” In Michael’s words: “You can hear the blast when they blast every once in a while, and if I’m outside in my bare feet or socks I can feel a little bit of vibration on my deck. (Preferred Sands) actually set up monitors and stuff out here to see if shock waves were coming this far, but it hasn’t been anything as far as being dangerous or anything to the foundation.” Color: |
description: #01DF01 Name: Owen Berg About: Scroll to keep reading Real estate agent Owen Berg lives on 34 acres of land that border property owned by Preferred Sands. Only rarely, he said, have buyers asked whether mines are located near a property they were considering. That does not keep him from worrying about his own property. In Owen’s words: “I am 59 years old. I probably want to sell in three years. Who wants to buy a place with a sand mine in the backyard?” Color: |
description: #6E6E6E Name: Preferred Sands-owned land About: Scroll to keep reading Preferred Sands operates five frac sand facilities in Wisconsin. The company, which operates in the United States and Canada, bought the site in December 2011 from another company. In 2012, a plume of sediment-laden stormwater left the Preferred Sands mine and processing plant in Blair, and traveled over nearby properties, including through the first floor of a home and into a garage on another property. In a December 2013 judgment, the company was ordered to pay $200,000 in penalties for air and water permit violations, including that incident. The company said it helped the affected residents. Meanwhile, property records show Preferred Sands has continued buying nearby land. With its latest acquisitions, the company has surrounded some landowners on as many as three sides. Matthew Navea, corporate director of environmental health and safety: “We carefully considered the needs of the neighbors involved by working directly with them and currently, the plant in Blair, Wisconsin, is in complete compliance with all applicable storm water and air permitting requirements. More, Preferred Sands is committed to maintaining such standards in the future.” Color: |
description: #6E6E6E Name: Preferred Sands-owned land About: Scroll to keep reading Preferred Sands operates five frac sand facilities in Wisconsin. The company, which operates in the United States and Canada, bought the site in December 2011 from another company. In 2012, a plume of sediment-laden stormwater left the Preferred Sands mine and processing plant in Blair, and traveled over nearby properties, including through the first floor of a home and into a garage on another property. In a December 2013 judgment, the company was ordered to pay $200,000 in penalties for air and water permit violations, including that incident. The company said it helped the affected residents. Meanwhile, property records show Preferred Sands has continued buying nearby land. With its latest acquisitions, the company has surrounded some landowners on as many as three sides. Matthew Navea, corporate director of environmental health and safety: “We carefully considered the needs of the neighbors involved by working directly with them and currently, the plant in Blair, Wisconsin, is in complete compliance with all applicable storm water and air permitting requirements. More, Preferred Sands is committed to maintaining such standards in the future.” Color: |
description: #FFFF00 Name: Preferred Sands: Permitted for mining About: Scroll to keep reading Preferred Sands operates five frac sand facilities in Wisconsin. The company, which operates in the United States and Canada, bought the site in December 2011 from another company. In 2012, a plume of sediment-laden stormwater left the Preferred Sands mine and processing plant in Blair, and traveled over nearby properties, including through the first floor of a home and into a garage on another property. In a December 2013 judgment, the company was ordered to pay $200,000 in penalties for air and water permit violations, including that incident. The company said it helped the affected residents. Meanwhile, property records show Preferred Sands has continued buying nearby land. With its latest acquisitions, the company has surrounded some landowners on as many as three sides. Matthew Navea, corporate director of environmental health and safety: “We carefully considered the needs of the neighbors involved by working directly with them and currently, the plant in Blair, Wisconsin, is in complete compliance with all applicable storm water and air permitting requirements. More, Preferred Sands is committed to maintaining such standards in the future.” Color: |
description: #6E6E6E Name: Preferred Sands-owned land About: Scroll to keep reading Preferred Sands operates five frac sand facilities in Wisconsin. The company, which operates in the United States and Canada, bought the site in December 2011 from another company. In 2012, a plume of sediment-laden stormwater left the Preferred Sands mine and processing plant in Blair, and traveled over nearby properties, including through the first floor of a home and into a garage on another property. In a December 2013 judgment, the company was ordered to pay $200,000 in penalties for air and water permit violations, including that incident. The company said it helped the affected residents. Meanwhile, property records show Preferred Sands has continued buying nearby land. With its latest acquisitions, the company has surrounded some landowners on as many as three sides. Matthew Navea, corporate director of environmental health and safety: “We carefully considered the needs of the neighbors involved by working directly with them and currently, the plant in Blair, Wisconsin, is in complete compliance with all applicable storm water and air permitting requirements. More, Preferred Sands is committed to maintaining such standards in the future.” Color: |
description: #6E6E6E Name: Preferred Sands-owned land About: Scroll to keep reading Preferred Sands operates five frac sand facilities in Wisconsin. The company, which operates in the United States and Canada, bought the site in December 2011 from another company. In 2012, a plume of sediment-laden stormwater left the Preferred Sands mine and processing plant in Blair, and traveled over nearby properties, including through the first floor of a home and into a garage on another property. In a December 2013 judgment, the company was ordered to pay $200,000 in penalties for air and water permit violations, including that incident. The company said it helped the affected residents. Meanwhile, property records show Preferred Sands has continued buying nearby land. With its latest acquisitions, the company has surrounded some landowners on as many as three sides. Matthew Navea, corporate director of environmental health and safety: “We carefully considered the needs of the neighbors involved by working directly with them and currently, the plant in Blair, Wisconsin, is in complete compliance with all applicable storm water and air permitting requirements. More, Preferred Sands is committed to maintaining such standards in the future.” Color: |