South Dakota misses out on another chance to cash in on the North Dakota oil boom. The state has determined that sand in the Black Hills is not suitable for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the process driving America's current oil boom.
The ideal "proppant" for fracking is and composed of over 99% quartz grains. DENR says our sand isn't quartzy enough to help drill, baby:
All of the samples failed to meet American Petroleum Institute recommended weight distribution specifications for natural proppants. Many samples collected from Tertiary- to Quaternary-age geologic units (White River Group, Arikaree Group, Ogallala Group, glacial outwash, terrace deposits, Sand Hills Formation, and alluvial deposits) have well-rounded and spherical grains, but most contain a significant amount of minerals other than quartz. Most samples collected from Jurassic- and Cretaceous-age geologic units (Hulett Sandstone Member of the Sundance Formation, Unkpapa Sandstone, Lakota Formation, Fall River Sandstone, and Fox Hills Sandstone), contain a significant amount of minerals other than quartz and/or contain angular and elongated grains. Samples collected from the Cambrian-Ordovician-age Deadwood Formation and Pennsylvanian-Permian-age Minnelusa Formation were determined (1) to be too fine-grained, (2) to be too hard due to carbonate or silica cement, (3) to contain angular and elongated grains, (4) to have significant iron staining, or (5) to contain a significant amount of minerals other than quartz.
None of the sand in South Dakota could likely be mined solely as hydraulic fracturing sand. In order to fully utilize a sand deposit and extract a marketable volume of sand from these sources, significant volumes of coarser or finer material would have to have a market as well. If there is demand for other uses, then the sand may be economical to mine. Deficiencies found in samples collected for this study included not being comprised of greater than 99 percent quartz, being too coarse or fine grained, having sand grains that are not the correct shape or having sand grains that are tightly cemented together [SD DENR, "Assessment of South Dakota's Sand and Alumina Resources for Use as Proppant," released March 2014].
Looks like the folks who bought sand-mining claims in the Black Hills will have to look into swim-beach maintenance.
The study also finds we lack the bauxite and kaolinite that would allow us to cash in on manufacturing ceramic proppant for fracking in the Bakken and elsewhere. But on the bright side...
“DENR undertook this study at the request of the 2012 Legislative Oil and Gas Summer Study Committee that was looking for ways to benefit from the North Dakota oil boom,” said DENR Secretary Steve Pirner. “While the study did not produce the desired results, DENR’s geologists gained a better understanding of sand resources in western South Dakota and that may prove useful in the future” [DENR, 2014.03.27].
Ah, knowledge.
Our sand won't frack—I feel a new state motto coming on....
Bakken frackin sand, I love it. Yosemite Sam would be proud.
A Summer Study? We ignore those results all the time! START DRILLING BABY!
I feel that Steve Pirner and the DENR are more concerned about promoting mining, oil wells, mega dairies, and other CAFO's that he is about protecting the environment.
Tell the wingnuts in Pierre to annex North Dakota and the oil boom is yours and the Red River flooding will still belong to ND and Canada.
Sure would be nice if we could convince them to leave the uranium in the ground.
Wait a minute, Tim! You just gave me a great idea: frack with uranium! Blast the shale formations with a uranium solution to produce supercharged oil! More power, and it glows!
http://www.wisconsinwatch.org/wi-frac-sand/
Consider your state lucky your sand won't frack. Wingnuts in Wisconsin turn industry loose with little oversight. Environmental damage and human health can't compete with the almighty greenback.
The frac sand industry in Wisconsin has been going for a while now. Unfortunately, the boom coincides with the Walker regime, which doesn't care about environmental protection. Walker and Republicans fail to pass anything to strengthen state laws, so the locals are doing their best to regulate it.
http://conservationvoters.org/issues/frac-sand-mining/
It was surprising to read this the other day as the silica mined near Custer is prized for abrasives. Transportation would have been a nightmare as US85 north of Belle is a crumbling pile of rubble and there is no rail for the same reason building over the Pierre Shale makes KXL untenable.
Rewilding the West would make far more sense.
Local news here is full of frac sand mining stories. Don is exactly right about Wisconsin Gov. Walker. He has been decimating Wisconsin environmentally, economically, politically and culturally since the moment he took office.
Local folks have really worked hard to save the Saint Croix and Mississippi Rivers. The Saint Croix forms the part of MN's eastern border that bends in near the metro. It flows into the Mississippi before the southern border. Both are wonderfully beautiful rivers, and the frac sanders have no problem trashing them.
Mines on the MN side are more regulated. A quick glance might lead one to believe that Democrats, who control MN's government, care about the environment that we human beings inhabit. A more thorough examination points directly to the conclusion that, yes indeed, that cursory summary is exactly right! Democrats do care about the vast, unwashed masses, like me!
I'm a Republican Deb, and I do care about you, washed or not.
Thanks Les. I knew that was an overgeneralization, I'm guilty.
OT-BP dirty awl spill in Lake Michigan is twice as large as previously reported and wasn't contained by shoreline.
Latest song in SD is, "I won't Frac, don't ask me."