Buffalo County zoning board denies permits for 450-acre frac sand mine

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_8b4356fc-08c4-11e2-906d-0019bb2963f4.html



A Buffalo County zoning panel denied permits Wednesday night for a proposed 450-acre frac sand mine in the town of Montana.

Six mining permits requested by landowners partnered as Seven Sands were rejected by unanimous 3-0 votes by the Buffalo County Board of Adjustment following a public hearing in Gilmanton.

Developer Glacier Sands, which requested the permits to extract sand from farm property, ran into the same alliance of forces that led to the denial of permits this summer for a frac sand railway spur and drying plant proposed near the Cochrane-Fountain City School.

Zoning officials Dale Klopp, Chris Weisenbeck and Ron Kasmierczak said unresolved disputes over sand trucking routes, continued air and water quality studies and county plans to review its zoning ordinance and permitting processes were the primary reasons for denying the Seven Sands permits.

The officials also referenced a town of Montana land-use plan approved and last updated in 2003, in which 80 percent of residents who responded to surveys said they opposed industrial and non-farm commercial development.


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This makes me sooo Happy!!!!!