- Hello, welcome to the Barron Area Community Center.
My name is Mary Pardee
and I am the 4-H Youth Development Educator
for the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension
here in Barron County.
Tonight, our presentation
is on reclamation of nonmetallic mining sites.
Please join me in welcoming our presenter,
Bronson Thalacker.
He is a county technician and specialist
for Barron County Soil and Water Conservation Department.
(applause)
- Thank you very much.
It's a pleasure to be here tonight,
and to be a part of this event.
Mining, sand, frac sand:
it's been a hot topic in Barron County
the last five years.
What's being done about it?
What regulations are in place?
What is the site or the pit going to looking like
when the operation's done?
What if they just walk away from the operation?
Those are a few questions I hope to answer tonight
in talking about the Barron County
Nonmetallic Mining Reclamation Program.
I'm gonna talk about the purpose
and the requirements of the program,
as well as the standards of reclamation.
I hope everyone gets a better understanding
of the objectives of the program,
and a better understanding of mining operation
from start to finish.
I wanna start off with a quick history
of nonmetallic mining in the state of Wisconsin,
as well as an overview
of nonmetallic mining in Barron County.
Nonmetallic mining is the extraction of stone,
sand, rock, or similar materials from natural deposits.
Nonmetallic mining has been going on in Wisconsin
for well over a hundred years.
In December of 2000, NR 135 was passed into State Law.
In the summer of 2001,
NR 135 was adopted by Barron County.
Barron County Department of Land Service
is the regulatory authority.
We ensure effective reclamation
that meets the standards of NR 135.
We're responsible for the review and permitting
of reclamation plans.
And we're responsible for the inspections,
administration and enforcement.
Here in Barron County, we deal with two types
of nonmetallic mining operations.
One is the sand and gravel operation.
A lot of this material is used for roads and infrastructure.
And the other is the industrial sand operation.
Industrial sand boom or the frac sand boom
hit Barron County hard between 2008 and 2010.
So, just to kind of clear the air a little bit,
the NR 135 and the ordinance,
the nonmetallic mining ordinances,
were in place before the frac sand boom.
Just wanna make that clear.
The sand is extracted, processed,
and exported out of state
for the production of natural gas and oil.
Operations in Barron County.
There are 67 sand and gravel operations
totaling 1,993 permitted acres.
Of those permitted acres, 790 are actively being mined.
We have 17 industrial sand operations
totaling 4,648 permitted acres.
And of that, 1,038 acres are actively being mined.
Permitted Acres in Barron County.
I hope you can see that all right.
The green polygons show the permitted acres
of both sand and gravel operations
and industrial sand operations.
North of Highway 8 is the majority
of the sand and gravel operations.
Even though they're scattered throughout the county,
the majority of those sand and gravel are north
and all of the nonmetallic mining industrial sand operations
are south of Highway 8.
A lot of activity in the town of Arland
and a lot of action down in Sioux Creek
and Dover townships.
So what is reclamation?
What does it mean?
It's a loaded question.
Reclamation means the rehabilitation
of a nonmetallic mining site to achieve a land use.
That's very important: to achieve a land use.
Specified in a nonmetallic mining reclamation plan
approved under this chapter, including removal or reuse
of nonmetallic mining refuse or reject material,
grading of nonmetallic mining site,
removal, storage and replacement of topsoil,
stabilization of soil conditions,
reestablishment of vegetative cover,
control of surface water and ground water,
prevention of environmental pollution,
and if practicable, the restoration
of plant, fish, and wildlife habitat.
So let's look at that End Land Use or Post Land Use.
The proposed post-mining land use
shall be consistent with your local land use plans,
shall meet local zoning requirements,
as well as comply with local, state, and federal law.
The most common and acceptable post-mining land uses
here in Barron County
are consistent with the surrounding landscape
which has been agricultural areas,
pasture land or forested wildlife areas.
The proposed post-mining land use will dictate--
this is a good statement here.
The proposed post-mining land use
will dictate the final slopes, drainage patterns,
site hydrology and seed mixes.
And again, the most common acceptable land use,
end land uses that we're seeing,
are those reclaimed in a grassland,
pasture land, agricultural,
and wildlife habitat and reforestation.
We're not seeing those elaborate reclamation plans
being turned into golf courses or recreational lakes.
So here I wanna run through
a quick sand and gravel operation, start to finish.
This is a typical sand and gravel pit.
It's your extraction site.
You got your crushing equipment.
You have the stockpiles of materials.
Your trucks hauling in and out.
You can see your storm water pond there
in the bottom right.
When they're all done with this operation,
extracting and moving material,
the reclamation process starts.
Here, they're bringing in material
from an off-site excavation.
They're shaping this site.
And this will be followed up
by the redistribution of topsoil and seeded down
which results in your final reclamation.
Here we have a site that was reclaimed
into grassland, wildlife habitat.
The slopes are coming up with trees and shrubs
and the mine floor was in native grassland.
On a much larger scale,
we have the reclamation of the industrial sand operation.
Here we have a map showing the existing site
and contours map.
It's a 40-acre parcel ridge
sloping from northwest to southeast.
Here's another look, a cross section,
generalized cross section look of the parcel.
The red line shows the existing topography.
The blue in this case is the overburden
that will be removed, stockpiled, and bermed,
and seeded and stabilized,
and then later on used for reclamation.
The sandstone will be extracted
and the final reclamation
will result in a three to one slope.
This site is ...
the reclamation is internally drained.
Here we have the different phases of the operation.
You can see the different overburden berms and topsoil
kind of in the down right.
And the different phases of operation, west to east.
So again, here's kind of the existing site,
the before picture of this 40-acre parcel.
Here's the site afterwards.
And they're actually...
This was a recent aerial photo
that they're already beginning to backfill into that site.
Here's another photo of the excavated site.
And here we see the material backfilled
and the shaping process beginning.
Now, as far as the industrial sand operations,
Barron County is just starting to see this.
We're looking at two sites in particular
that are really starting to do reclamation.
Otherwise, again, it's at its infancy stage, if you will,
and we're not seeing a lot of it right now.
This is the post-mining contours map.
Like I said, it's gonna be an internally drained site
with three-to-one slopes.
Your drainage pattern's going inward.
And this is the reclamation concept map.
This 40 acres will be reclaimed
into a dry, northern forest,
which is your jack pine and pin oak.
Here's another reclamation concept map,
cross section view of that parcel.
So how do they get to that point?
Let's talk about that.
Reclamation plan, permit required.
The reclamation plan, there's a lot of content
that goes in with that,
a lot of material and a lot of information.
No nonmetallic mining will occur
without a reclamation permit.
And a reclamation plan is the basis
for granting a reclamation permit.
A reclamation plan is the blueprint
describing the steps that are necessary
to reclaim the site to achieve that post-mining land use.
Reclamation Plan. I'm gonna do a quick overview
of these topics.
Again, a lot of material goes into these reclamation plans.
Site Information. The site information
includes your legal description, your parcel IDs,
your residents within 300 feet of the mine boundary,
maps of topography and drainage,
your geology of the area,
your wetlands and groundwater information,
your existing structures, your endangered species,
and historical information.
Site information also requires mining operations data,
volume of material, methods of stockpiling and processing,
erosion control and vegetation plans,
storm water management plan and information.
The storm water regulations,
they fall under the jurisdiction of the Wisconsin DNR,
but that's an additional permit that we require them to have
before we issue the reclamation permit.
The Post-Mining Land Use, again, this is extremely important
because it will dictate how those operators will achieve
that post-mining land use ...
a successful reclamation, I'm sorry.
The reclamation measures
is a description of the proposed earthwork and reclamation,
talks about final slopes, contours,
site stabilization, and vegetative plan.
It includes the description
of topsoil removal, storage, and redistribution.
Section includes maps of final reclamation,
estimated cost of reclamation,
and the quantifiable standards
for assessing successful reclamation.
The criteria for assessing completion
needs to be measurable.
The quantifiable standards
can be based on your percent cover,
plant diversity, plant density, or productivity.
All these need to be taken into consideration
because this is the final step
before certifying successful completion.
Once you certify successful completion,
you can't go back.
And that brings me to the reclamation standards.
These are more of the action-based things
that we can actually go out there and inspect.
All the nonmetallic mining sites
shall be reclaimed in conformance
with these reclamation standards.
Surface water and wetland protection.
Here we have an example of a wetland delineation map.
The operator is required to do a wetland delineation study
of the mining area and submit the report to Barron County
as part of the reclamation plan.
The identified wetlands or surface water
fall again under the jurisdiction of the Wisconsin DNR
under NR 102 and NR 105, the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
I believe the set-backs
from wetlands and surface water is at 50 to 100 feet,
so all diversions and drainage from the site
need to be constructed accordingly
to prevent pollution of these areas.
Ground water protection.
Operators are required to install monitoring wells
and follow sampling and testing requirements.
The elevation of the water table
must be measured on a regular basis
to ensure ground water quantity
is not affected because of mining operations.
A list of parameters is required to sample and test water
to ensure protection of ground water quality as well.
Topsoil management.
Topsoil is removed and generally stockpiled
at the borders of the mining site.
Volumes are calculated to ensure adequate amounts
for final reclamation.
Topsoil redistribution ranges
from three to eight inches in thickness.
Final grading and slopes.
Final reclaimed slopes covered by topsoil material
may not be steeper than a three to one horizontal
to vertical incline slope.
Topsoil redistribution.
Topsoil material should be redistributed
in accordance with the reclamation plan.
Redistribution shall be done in a manner
to reduce compaction yet prevents erosion.
So let's look at some successful reclamation.
This site's material was used for a Highway 8 project
and was reclaimed in 2009.
It was reclaimed back into agriculture.
The farm has a small portion of grassland wildlife habitat.
That's the after.
And before.
After.
And here's a photo from ground level,
now into a nice looking alfalfa field.
He's got a small drainage pond on the far north there
with reclaimed grassland wildlife habitat.
Here we have another successful reclamation photo.
This site, material was used for a county road project
and reclaimed in 2010.
It's now reclaimed as a grassland wildlife habitat.
Here we have a photo of a private operation
that was reclaimed in 2012.
The operator did excavate into the groundwater
and it's now reclaimed into wildlife habitat.
Let's talk about the financials.
Financial assurance.
This is a key requirement of the program.
It ensures that the reclamation plan is completed.
If the operator chose to walk away from the mine site,
this is Barron County's security blanket.
All operators of nonmetallic mining sites
are required to submit proof of financial assurance.
The objective of financial assurance
is to ensure reclamation.
The amount of this financial assurance
is based on the cost to implement the reclamation plan.
It can be in the form of security bond, letter of credit,
certificate of deposit, or cash.
And it's made payable to Barron County and may be released
upon the successful completion of reclamation.
Very important is the financial assurance.
Permitting-- just kinda wanna read
through the points of permitting here.
Permit required by all nonmetallic mining operators.
Reclamation plan needs to meet
all the requirements of NR 135
and the Barron County Nonmetallic Mining Ordinance.
Before permitting, a public notice must be published
and there must be an opportunity
for a public informational hearing.
That's generally a 30 to 60-day process.
Once it meets all these requirements,
then we can issue the nonmetallic mining reclamation permit.
Inspections. The following are the things we look for
when we're out in the field.
Operating within the permitted area.
Now this slide shows an overlay
of the permitted area to be mined,
and in the backdrop is the aerial photo
of what is actually being mined.
You can see that he's operating outside of his permitted area.
In this situation, Barron County has the authority
to shut the operation down and issue a citation.
In this case, the operator needs to make amendments
or changes to his reclamation plan
and go through that permitting process.
We look for erosion control.
Here we have a picture of the silt fence to the left
and we have a ditch check
or a sediment bale on the right here.
We make sure that these are all in good condition.
Another thing we're looking for is that vegetation.
I'll talk about that in the next slide.
Now a lot of the erosion control
falls under the jurisdiction of the DNR, the Wisconsin DNR,
and that storm water permit,
but there is a lot of overlap,
so we look for the erosion control measures up as well
so that none of that erosion and wash out
is going on to another property or into a waterway.
Vegetation establishment.
Really like to see things green up.
Need to get those roots down in the soil
and stabilize everything, prevent it from washing out.
In this photo, we can see things greening up real nice
in a waterway on the left there
and then on a topsoil berm to the right.
That photo to the right, we would have liked to see
a little bit more erosion control there
and they were actually putting down the straw, E matting,
and the ditch checks that day
when I was out there taking that photo.
But things were really popping and greening up nice.
Finally, we inspect to make sure
that they're following through
with the overall reclamation plan, start to finish.
Is that operator on the right track
to achieve that post-mining land use?
Administration. Just wanna touch on these points briefly.
Permit modifications: we're able to make amendments
to existing permits.
The most common change that we've came across
is an expansion or additional acres to a permit.
Permit suspensions.
Barron County may suspend or revoke
a nonmetallic mining reclamation permit
if it finds the operator has failed
to maintain financial assurance
or if the operator has failed on a repetitive basis
to follow the reclamation plan.
Annual operating report.
Operator's required to submit to Barron County
an annual operating report.
This report includes contact information,
location information,
acreage affected by mining extraction,
any reclaimed acreage,
an updated map identifying the acreage affected.
Regulatory reporting to the DNR.
Barron County is required
to submit a report to the DNR annually.
This includes the total number of mines in the county,
number of new mines, acres approved of mining,
the number of acres that are currently unreclaimed
and the number of acres that have been reclaimed
with the release of the financial assurance.
Wisconsin DNR program audit.
Now, the Wisconsin DNR is the regulatory authority
over Barron County's nonmetallic mining program.
We're required to go through an audit
to make sure we're running the program
in compliance with NR 135.
Fees. The following are the fees involved
in the nonmetallic mining program.
There's the plan review fee.
This is a one-time fee
for the review process reclamation plan.
Any amendments to the original permit
are subject to the plan review fee as well.
Annual fees. The annual fees are based
on the active or unreclaimed acres.
The Wisconsin DNR fee, they share a portion of that as well
and they're based on the unreclaimed acres as well.
The financial assurance, which we talked about before,
this fee is also based on the unreclaimed acres
and is determined by the project cost
to follow through with that reclamation plan
to achieve that post-mining land use.
Enforcement: right of entry and inspection.
No operator may refuse entry or access
onto a nonmetallic mining site
of a duly authorized officer, employee,
or agent of Barron County.
The appropriate credentials must be presented
and the inspector must have the appropriate safety equipment
needed to comply with any of the federal,
state, and local laws.
Orders and citations. Barron County may issue orders
or citations set forth in chapter 295.
Chapter 295 has another state statute
that deals with reclamation
and more of the enforcement issues.
Penalties: Any person who violates Chapter NR 135
and Barron County Nonmetallic Mining Ordinance
may result in forfeitures,
as provided in Chapter 295, State Statute.
So, wrapping up,
that is the Barron County
Nonmetallic Mining Reclamation Program.
I have a list of references here
that you can go to for additional information.
And I also have my contact information
to get ahold of me with any questions.
(applause)