Surface Mining
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Preferred Sands Set to Begin Construction on New Frac Mine in Texas

Published: October 16, 2017 |

[Click image to enlarge]

A Pennsylvania frac sand mining company expects to start construction by the end of the year at its new location in Atascosa County — a spot that it negotiated with the community.

Preferred Sands has purchased more than 4,000 acres in northern Atascosa and southern Bexar counties, and the acreage includes a sand mine that’s already been in operation for decades.

The mine’s original proposed site had created an uproar among residents in Atascosa County, who were worried about heavy truck traffic on their rural, gravel roads, possible health impacts, the loss of their view and the placement of heavy industry right across from people’s homes.

Preferred Sands’ Sand Mining of Texas LLC already has its permit from the state’s environmental regulator and could have started construction on the corner of Bruce Road and Applewhite Road, but it voluntarily halted its plans in May to work with residents.

The new location ended up at a site off of State Highway 16 where Martin Marietta has operated a sand mine for decades.

T.J. Doyle of Preferred Sands said the company purchased the 4,000 acres, and that the new sand mine and Marin Marietta will operate on different parts of the property. Though part of the land extends north into Bexar County, the mining will happen on the southern portion of the property, he said.

Among the agreements the company made with Atascosa County residents was that it would set operations back from the fence lines, try to abate noise and dust, and leave perimeter vegetation in place or add new vegetation and berms.

“Hopefully it’s out of the site lines for the neighbors,” Doyle said.

The frac sand from the new mine, and others in the area, are destined for the nearby Eagle Ford Shale oil field where fracking uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals pumped at high pressure to crack tight rock and extract hard-to-get oil. In the past decade, a boom in shale drilling has set off a boom in sand, too.

In recent years, companies have started using an increasing amount of sand to frack wells after finding that more sand equals more oil. And they’ve found that while Texas sand isn’t as good as that from Wisconsin and Minnesota, it’s good enough, and has far cheaper transportation costs.

Doyle said the company has the needed permits for the new site.

The company held a job fair at its new location this week and Doyle said it will be hiring for everything from heavy equipment operators to shift supervisors, diesel mechanics and office jobs.

The original location planned for Preferred Sands — near a historical marker for the 1813 Battle of Medina, known as the bloodiest fight in Texas history — will remain a hay field for now.

The group that formed in opposition to the project has said the company has addressed all of its concerns — everything from creating buffers between homes and sand mining activity, to moving truck traffic off of dusty, gravel county roads and onto larger highways. Residents issued a letter in support of the project this summer. The group, known as “Not Just Dust - Bruce Road,” has continued to meet and hopes to work with other existing and potential sand mines in the region, and has a Facebook page that has attracted hundreds of followers.

Source: My San Antonio


To stop by Preferred Sands’ website, CLICK HERE


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