More than 50 people gathered Monday to protest frac sand mining outside a conference on the silica sand resources of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Concerns about the health, safety, and environmental impacts of the sudden boom in new industrial sand mining facilities are shared by many across the Upper Midwest.

Wasted Places is a collaborative investigation by six nonprofit newsrooms into federal and state programs designed to cleanup and redevelop polluted tracts known as brownfields.The project was coordinated by the Investigative News Network, and reported and written by the Connecticut Health Investigative Team, City Limits, Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and INN.

Frac sand fever has hit much of west-central Wisconsin, catching residents and local governments by surprise when demand for sand suddenly soared and permit applications began to pour in. The number of Wisconsin frac sand mining operations has more than doubled in the past year.

Mining and processing operations double from 2011 to 2012

Wisconsin’s Sand Rush
2011 Mine sites map
View the frac sand mining and processing operations that were under construction last year. Click the image below to open a larger version.

Five years ago, Wisconsin only had a handful of industrial sand facilities. Over the past two years, the increased demand [...]

What one frac-sand mining company is doing to help protect Wisconsin’s endangered Karner blue butterfly.

There’s a new wrinkle in Wisconsin’s fast-growing frac sand mining: It turns out that an endangered butterfly, the Karner blue, lives in the same region. And some companies may be failing to check for the butterfly as they move ahead with mining operations.

For a state that’s made “Open for Business” its official mantra, Wisconsin sure seems lukewarm about jobs in the highly competitive — and lucrative — field of wind energy.

Last week, I took off from the tumult of Madison for a few days to talk to undergraduate journalism students at Indiana University. I talked about what it’s like working at the Center as a reporter, multimedia producer and website manager. (Eventually, I hope to have time to think up a less cliched phrase than [...]