Emails Show Frustration Over Lack Of Information From Company And Tight Deadlines Set By DNR Administration
A two-year battle to build a frac sand plant on 16 acres or rare wetlands in Monroe County is coming to a head this spring. A judge will decide if the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources followed the law when it approved the project last year.
Staff at the DNR say they felt pressured by department administration to rush the approval of a controversial permit to fill 16 acres of high-quality wetlands in western Wisconsin that’s now being challenged in court, according to emails obtained by Wisconsin Public Radio through an open records request and interviews with former staffers.
In 2014, Atlanta-based mining company Meteor Timber bought 50,000 acres of Wisconsin forestland and became the largest private landowner in the state. After discovering 137 million tons of frac sand on property it purchased in Jackson County, the company proposed building a mine. It also proposed building a sand-processing plant and rail loading facility on land that currently hosts a cranberry farm 14 miles away in the Town of Grant in Monroe County....
Ken Notes: This is NOT good! One thing I learned as both an elected official and and administrator is to trust your experts and let them do their jobs. I can get frustrated when the process or an outside group causes unnecessary delay. But to change the outcome or require staff to turn a blind eye is out and out wrong. We make good decisions based on good information and we have professionals to provide it.
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- - Volume: 6 - WEEK: 15 Date: 4/9/2018 9:20:30 AM -