UTICA, Minn. – A rural couple petitioned the Winona County Planning Commission to allow frac-sand mining on their pasture land south of Utica. Thomas and Janet Campbell said that sand would be quarried for animal bedding on dairy farms and perhaps local construction. They said the sand would not go toward industrial purposes, which the county banned in a landmark 2016 zoning decision that was upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Campbells said they plan to dig up 30 acres in cycles and restore top soil and reseed before opening up each new section. They promised not to go as deep as ground water. The mine would be along County Road 6, which connects Troy and Fremont. They anticipate three or four truck loads an hour being hauled out of the mine.
Fracking profile
The Campbell proposal once was part of promoter Rick Fick’s proposal for a frac-sand empire in southeast Minnesota. The Frick plan died when the County Board banned frac-sand extraction in 2016 for environmental and human health reasons. The Campbells say their purpose now is strictly agricultural and has nothing to do with Frick’s grand scheme. Frick had planned to sell Minnesota frac sand in huge quantities to the petroleum industry for the controversial practice of deep earth-fracturing to extract oil.
Nearby quarry
Winona County has one frac-sand operation already. It was in existence before the 2016 ban and thus grandfathered. This quarry, the Nisbit Mine, is two miles south of the Campbell property. The Nisbits sell sand primarily for animal bedding and local construction.