Prairie du Chien
Editor-
Pattison Sand Company, LLC (PSC), is a family-owned local business based in Clayton, IA about 13 miles south of Prairie du Chien. We are planning to invest locally to establish a surface sand mine in Bridgeport Township, Wisconsin. In doing so, we will create more good paying jobs, both direct and indirect, to produce industrial sand.
We are proposing to surface mine approximately 130 acres off Highway 60 in Bridgeport. It will look like a rock quarry. Raw sand will be transported to Clayton, IA for processing. No high capacity wells are proposed; no processing chemicals will be used; all mining will be above the ground water table; residual sand will be left in place for continued stormwater filtration; all land will be reclaimed to agricultural use; all wetlands and waterways, archeological sites, and endangered species and habitat will be avoided. We have a self-imposed 500' setback from the Wisconsin River and will keep all mining beyond the highway scenic easements. Reclamation will be accomplished on an on-going basis, with a minimal open quarry at any one time.
PSC produces clean, white industrial sand. It is shipped to customers throughout North America for the natural gas and oil industries and, to a lesser degree, to the geothermal and cement industries. With some of the best paying jobs in the area, PSC has approximately 150 local employees from Iowa and Wisconsin. In 2011, we paid over $18 million to vendors in the immediate area (Clayton, Allamakee, and Fayette counties in Iowa and Crawford County in Wisconsin). Our primary sub-contractors are all within a 50-mile radius, providing up to 30-80 indirect positions. Unlike large national companies, our dollars stay local.
Since 1878, there have been several silica sand mine operations in the Clayton area. For years this sand was used by the Rock Island Glass Company and glass factories in Milwaukee. John Deere (Waterloo) and Oliver (Charles City) and other iron foundries also used our sand as coring sand. Other uses have included sand for plaster in houses, marble cutting and polishing, sandblasting buildings, bridges and railroad cars. The Pattison family was in the agricultural business starting in 1950, then diversified into the industrial sand business in 2006.
To reduce shipping costs, the majority of the product is shipped by rail from both sides of the Mississippi River, with a small amount leaving by truck. We understand there are concerns with trucking and have tried to minimize the impacts. In order to meet market demand and get our product to customers, we must utilize trucks to transport our industrial sand product to load on rail in Prairie du Chien.
In producing our sand, our first priority is SAFETY for our employees. We will meet and exceed the minimum requirements established under the applicable Local, State, and Federal regulations. All permits and approvals will be acquired prior to commencing any mining activities. We are regulated by MSHA, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. We strive to go above and beyond MSHA requirements to ensure compliance. Our recent air and noise perimeter monitoring at various sites yielded results well below permissible levels.
Every day we focus on being a good employer, a solid corporate citizen and a good neighbor. After all, we live, work, and play here too. Pattison Sand Company and all of our employees are proud to be providing a valuable product that is essential to developing affordable energy and, ultimately, energy independence for the United States.
- Kyle Pattison, member
Pattison Sand Co. LLC
