La Crosse Tribune Puts Jorgenson Dilemma on Page One

The La Crosse Tribune is covering the Jorgensen farm's water dilemma in a page one story. It points out that the mine's conditional use permit provided by the city of Sparta--which annexed the land the mine sits on to make it easier for the mine to acquire the necessary permits for its opertaion--requires the mine to make good on any negative impacts its operations have on other wells.

U.S. Silica is drilling a new well--but not admitting that its well caused the problem.

Sand Mine Turns on Well, Neighboring Farm Loses Water

U.S. Silica began pumping water three months ago from a well it drilled a year ago on its sand mine

Jorgenson Farm/Marcus Frazee photo

in Sparta, Wis., and last week, a nearby dairy farm's artesian well went dry. The farm, owned by Ardis Jorgenson, a 78-year-old widow,  and operated by her son, Dale, has been drawing water from that well for more than a century. Saturday, that well produced no water; the Jorgenson's more than 100 head of cattle started bellowing in distress.

Dale Jorgenson began a desperate scramble for water. The Jorgenson's have an interim water supply, city water brought in by milk truck, but no long term solution.

Mrs. Jorgenson said that the family realized that the sand mine could shut down their water supply a year ago, after U.S. Silica drilled the well. The farm was without water for a few days; lack of water cut their milk production and hurt their income. Mrs. Jorgenson said that U.S. Silica refused to offer them compensation.


She said that U.S. Silica had offered to drill a well for the family, but would not guarantee that well for more than a year.

Jeff Jahn, mine planning and development manager for U.S. Silica, who has been the liason for U.S. Silica in Sparta, said that the company is monitoring its water use closely because it knows that its water consumption may affect the Jorgenson farm's water supply.

"We have worked hard over the past year and will continue to work on implementing a permanent solution that would involve either deepening the existing well or drilling a new well, but these offers up to now have not been acceptable to Mrs. Jorgenson," Jahn said in an email. He added that U.S. Silica would try to minimize its water use. "There may be a point where the Jorgenson well will continue to flow as normal," he wrote in an emailed response to questions about the situation.

Although U.S. Silica drilled the well a year ago, it did not begin taking water from the well until late December, according to Mike Lawson, director of investor relations and corporate communications for U.S. Silica. He said that the sand mine is using 240 gallons per minute and said that that is "well within our permit allowance."

Mrs. Jorgenson said that her father-in-law had purchased the farm when he emigrated to the U.S. from Denmark. She and her late husband, Alfred, raised six children on the farm.

She said that the artesian well needs no pump, it fills a holding tank and the Jorgenson's use a pump to pipe the water to the barn. If the sand mine did dig a well for the farm, the family would need a pump to bring the water to the surface and pipe it into the barn. The cows, she said, can taste the difference between artesian well water and chlorinated city water.

Behind the Berm at Tunnel City

Bessie Kmiecik photos of the Unimin mine in Tunnel City. To see full screen, click the arrow, then click on the four arrows in the lower right corner of the image. This is what's behind the berm.

If you can't see the slide show, click here to link to it.

Bird's Eye View

Here are three major Monroe County sand mines, the bird's eye view!!



Photos by Bessie Kmiecik
To see the photos enlarged, please click on the read more button below.

Angelo Extends Moratorium

The town board of Angelo met last night and extended its moratorium on sand mines and will act on a proposed ordinance at its December meeting. Read more here.

Town of Grant Extends Moratorium

The Town of Grant has extended its moratorium. Read more here.

The Industrial Sandbox

Monroe County is now the site of half a dozen sandmines, some 1,000 acres or more. These are open pit mines.