Expanding Clayton County sand mine would pose low risk, professor says

ELKADER — Airborne silica particles resulting from the proposed expansion of the Pattison sand mine pose a “low risk to human health,” University of Iowa professor Patrick O’Shaughnessy said Thursday night at a meeting of the committee studying potential impacts of the expansion.

O’Shaughnessy, who specializes in occupational and environmental health and safety, spoke at a packed meeting of the Mine Reserve Expansion Study Committee, a five-member panel established by the Board of Supervisors to determine the environmental, economic and aesthetic impacts of Pattison’s proposed expansion...

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Ken Notes: Since economics dictates that mines are not going away. we need a statewide policy and environmental standards to address the issues and regulate the mines. Also there is substantial impact on the infrastructure that should be addresses. I find it interesting that rail, a private industry, has improved tracks across the country using sand revenues but roads, a public commodity, get little or no assistance.