When Jim and Kathy Kachel moved into their home south of Bagley, Wisconsin, overlooking the Mississippi River in fall 2007, they couldn’t see the Pattison Sand Mine directly across the river in Clayton, Iowa. Since then, terraced layers of limestone carved into the northeast Iowa bluff have made way
Public health researchers disagree on the impact fine silica dust has on the long-term health of residents living near silica sand mining communities like the tiny Mississippi River town of Clayton, which is in the Iowa county by the same name, and in southwest Wisconsin.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources finalized fracking rule in November after a nearly year-long process. The Chicago Tribune recently reported, however, that not a single company has filed for a fracking permit in the past three months.
The growth of fracking sparked new industries, and not just in oil-producing regions of the United States. Test your knowledge on how the fracking industry effects Iowa and neighboring states.
As companies and landowners continue to settle on agreements to begin fracking, a handful of federal reports and studies have suggested fracking for gas and oil may present certain health risks.
Southern Illinois farmers and landowners have started leasing their land to major fracking companies to draw additional income. In just one southern Illinois county, Wayne County,property owners have signed more than 3,000 leases with oil and gas companies in the last two years, though some leases m
A recent legal decision is likely to significantly change how Wisconsin manages its groundwater and will especially affect the state’s sandy counties where powerful wells are irrigating potato fields, servicing giant dairies, and providing water critical for the state's frac sand mining boom.
IowaWatch executive director-editor Lyle Muller talked on WMT radio host Bob Bruce’s Wednesday, Sept. 17, program about reporter Amber Rouse’s story about northeast Iowa residents’ fight to
A group of northeast Iowans effectively has kept large frac sand mine companies from mining silica-rich sand in their county by building a consortium that set aside politics and focused on dealing with the matter locally, instead of with state intervention.
A group of northeast Iowans effectively is keeping large frac sand mine companies from mining silica-rich sand in their county by building a consortium that set aside politics and focused on dealing with the matter locally, instead of with state intervention.
