Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen recently obtained a $60,000 judgment against Arcadia Sand LLC and Mississippi Sand LLC for alleged violations of a stormwater pollution discharge permit at a Trempealeau County hydraulic fracturing sand mining and processing facility.
The complaint stated that the two companies violated a storm water discharge permit by allegedly failing to install and maintain best management practices to control contaminated stormwater at the Arcadia Sand facility, operated by Mississippi Sand. The site includes a berm and a stockpile storage area that separates the production portion of the site from a navigable stream.
During a May 20, 2013, storm, the berm, which was not covered by established vegetation, failed and the stockpile storage area eroded, which discharged berm material and sediment-laden stormwater into the stream.
Sediment smothers aquatic breeding grounds, fills in stream channels, poses a threat to fish, cuts down on the recreational value of waterways and contributes to the erosion of stream banks. It is also costly for water treatment plants to filter out sediment and can cause excessive algae blooms.
Since the 2013 damage, the berm at the Aracadia Sand facility has been re-engineered and the stockpile area has been properly vegetated in compliance with the stormwater pollution discharge permit.