Wisconsin Jobs, Economy -- Fracking Sand Operations Doubled in Wisconsin -- Bakken, Eagle Ford Connection

Link to LaCrosseTribune.com:

Preferred Sands turns Wisconsin’s sandy soil into a hot commodity. A wall of green trees opens to a vast expanse of sand buzzing with activity. Excavators mine and conveyors carry the sand from towering stockpiles up into the processing plant. Every week, this facility ships 7,500 tons of sand by rail to oil and gas fields in Texas, North Dakota and Pennsylvania.

This 400-acre mine and processing facility is one of 20 such operations that have sprung up in the past two years in Trempealeau County. The mines and processing plants produce strong, fine-grained sand in high demand for a type of oil and natural gas drilling known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Great article at the link; link sent to me be a reader. I would have missed it. Great photo at the link.