A look at the facts and the mining and reclamation plan

By Trey Foerster, Publisher

There has been a flurry of facts and opinions swirling about Iola-Scandinavia about the proposed sand mine operation on Iola Car Show grounds.

Both the Village of Iola and Waupaca County have specific ordinances covering nonmetallic mining and the specifics of those will be covered below.

The Town of Scandinavia comes under Waupaca County ordinances for nonmetallic mining. The county also specifies requirements of public notice, public comments during the review period, and public hearing to hear testimony.

Who are immediately affected? There are 43 adjacent property owners, 11 of whom have buildings, and 17 of whom have wells.

This article presents the facts of the project. It won’t tell you what is “right and wrong,” which is a matter of personal belief and conviction. It will prepare readers for discussion of the topic whether at the Jan. 4 Town of Scandinavia hearing at 5 p.m. in the Scandinavia Municipal Center or with other people. An advanced copy of this article was sent to Faulks Bros. Construction to review accuracy of facts attributed them and the documents filed for this project.

Scope of the mine

According to the Waupaca County Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application, trucks will operate Monday-Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-noon. The weight load per dump truck is 22 tons.

A stone tracking pad of at least 50 feet in length will be installed in accordance with the WI DNR Technical Standard 1057, Tracking Control Practice, to prevent or reduce tracking out of sediment onto the roadway.

A total of 25 acres of the 94 total acres of the two parcels are planned for mining. There will be no mining below the water table. The acres to be mined are in the southern portion, and according to its operations and reclamation plan, Faulks Bros. Construction (FBC) states: “This property is split by a slope that runs from the north-east to the south-west. The higher area is on the west side of the property and that is where most of the mining activity will take place.” The document also states: “On the north half of this property there is a west to east ridge. The north half will not be mined due to constraints with setback from buildings, and water features.” However, in the Operation Plan (see below) submitted by FBC, it indicates the north half will see possible mining on 5.9 acres.

According to a document in the CUP application, “The estimated volume of materials to be extracted from the site is 689,000 to 820,000 cubic yards over the life of the site. The period of extraction is between 10 and 15 years depending on market conditions.”

However, in FBC’s “Iola Non-Metallic Mining Site Operations & Reclamation Plan” it states: “More than 56,000 cubic yards (75,000 tons) of material is planned to be extracted per year, depending upon market conditions. The estimated total production over the life of the site will be from 675,000 to 862,000 cubic yards of material extracted.”

Each dump truck has a load of 22 tons, so it computes to 3,409 truckloads per the 75,000 tons per year of extracted materials. Based on a 16-week production period, that would compute to 213 trucks per week. But this is a rough math estimate and actual truck traffic may be more or less. “Trucks can still haul out of the mining area other weeks of the year when there is a stockpile of material,” Faulks Bros. indicated.

End land use for the parcels after mining is completed is parking and agriculture.

Faulks Bros. is asking for an exception on parcel LU19 as the extraction operation will be 21 acres which exceeds the 10-acre limit in this LU.

Liability insurance has been obtained through R & R Insurance Services Inc. of Waukesha, Wisconsin.

FBC has been in business for 76 years and operates seven sand and gravel pits and one limestone quarry. “Any issues that have ever come up have been resolved in timely fashion and with mutual understanding between all parties involved. There are currently no issues,” the firm noted in a CUP application document.

In a letter to Ryan Brown, Waupaca County Planning and Zoning Director, Jon Faulks wrote: “This submittal is for the benefit of future generations and the option to have quality materials produced locally for all customers. The leasing of this property is vital to our company, its employees, the property owner and surrounding community. Faulks Bros. Const. and I have, and always will work and cooperate with everyone within reason to the best of our ability.”

Zoning, Setbacks and more

Waupaca County

For the county, a Conditional Use Permit is required.

“Nonmetallic Mining is prohibited in all zoning districts other than Agricultural Enterprise (AE), Agricultural Retention (AR), Private Recreation and Forestry (PVRF), Agriculture and Woodland Transition (AWT), Rural Industrial-General (RI-G) and Rural Industrial-Intensive (RI-I).” Under the permit, restrictions include: setbacks from lot lines, from the road, from dwelling units, for berm construction.

According to the CUP application, the properties are zoned PVRF and G.1 (Institutional District, at 100 Oak Ridge Road).

In addition, under Compliance, “The Operator must comply with all local, state and federal laws, permits, regulations, other requirements or obligations and amendments thereof. Compliance with law includes, but is not limited to building permits, roadway limits, Department of Transportation licensing, blasting and noise standards, environmental, and occupational safety and health requirements. The Operator must comply with Road Agreements from the town and the County highway department for the transportation haul route in conformance with standards and requirements set forth by the town or county in substantial conformance with any Road Agreement.”

Also the operator, “agrees to conduct monitoring activities, annually or more often if necessary, to ensure compliance with this ordinance and conditions associated with the permit. A checklist will be created using the conditions of the permit to track and archive compliance.”

Under the county ordinances, there are Public Protection Safety and General Operating requirements that cover: Gating, lighting, site enclosure, on-site fuel storage, hours of operation, hazardous materials storage, berms and screening, and boring holes.

Under county requirements, the operator “must comply with all applicable local, state and federal environmental protection laws.” There are compliance requirements for air emissions, groundwater, surface waters, wetlands, and stormwater.

The county also requires operational plans with a complete land survey, topographical map, map of wells in the area, a general location map, and a map of all transportation routes. These have been provided by FBC to the county.

The county also requires the operator to file “A lighting plan for the Nonmetallic Mining operation, including the type and style of lighting to be used and its power source.” And also “A description of all fencing, gating and security measures in accordance with Section 19 of this Ordinance.”

Finally, the county requires proof of insurance, “In accordance with Section 20 of this Ordinance and in accordance with general industry standards, the County may require proof of appropriate insurance to protect the County from costs associated with damage, improper operation, environmental spills, releases or accidents and any other activity which may result in financial costs to the County. Such insurance shall be only for operational concerns and shall not be intended to fund any manner of reclamation. Any insurance required in accordance with this Section and Section 20 may be discontinued only upon mine closure or the end of mining activities, though reclamation may still be ongoing.”

Village of Iola

The Village of Iola Code of Ordinances, Chapter 183, has no specific setbacks and no prohibition as to zoning. It does require the following permit information: “(1) An adequate description of the operation, including legal description of the property; (2) A plan of the site showing the proposed and existing roads and drives, and the sources, quantity and disposition of water to be used, if any; (3) Estimated dates for completion of the extraction and commencement dates for reclamation; (4) A reclamation plan and such other information as may be necessary to determine the nature of the operation and the effect on the surrounding area; (5) Methods of screening from adjacent properties; (6) Hours of operation; (7) Dust and noise control; (8) Maximum depth; (9) Blasting procedures; (10) Location and height of stockpiles; (11) Such other information the Village Board deems pertinent to the operation.”

The village codes also specify financial assurance for “the cost of all improvements required in the reclamation plan, guaranteed completion of required reclamation within period determined by the Village Board, payment by the operator for all costs incurred by the village for review and inspection, the village may elect to have stages of the reclamation plan performed under terms of a cash escrow agreement, the required performance bond or cash escrow agreement shall be equal to 1 ¼ times the Village Engineer’s estimated cost of the required improvements.”

The municipality’s code also specifies that the site be “enclosed by a security fence of not less than four feet in height. Fence gates shall be locked or secured when the site is unattended so as to prevent uncontrolled access by children to the site.” This is if the area “abuts” residentially zoned lots.

Enforcement officer for the village is the Director of Public Works.

Summary of the operation

According to its 39-page “Iola Non-Metallic Mining Site Operations & Reclamation Plan”, FBC states this “Purpose and Executive Summary”:

The purpose of this report is to provide the information required for both the Conditional Use Permit and the Reclamation Plan for the Faulks Bros. Construction Inc.’s (FBC) proposed Iola Non-Metallic Mining Site (Iola Site). All information contained herein is the best information available to FBC at the time of writing the plan.

The proposed Iola site is currently used by the Iola Old Car Show (Car Show) for parking and agricultural purposes. The purpose of the site will be to extract sand and aggregate to produce multiple products for various uses. The extracted material will be processed on-site using a screen operation. The material will be stockpiled and sold directly out of the pit or transported to other FBC locations for further processing. No well is planned on the site at this time. If large boulders are encountered during extraction, that cannot be removed using conventional methods, blasting will be required. It may be needed. Depending upon the consistence of the sand and gravel encountered, rock crushing may also be employed on location.

The mining activity area will be approximately 30 acres out of a total of 94 acres between two parcels, the North and South Properties. The South property is in the Town of Scandinavia and the North Property is in the Village of Iola. The mining activity will be carried out in two phases starting with the South Property and ending with the North Property, over a period of 10 to 15 years depending upon market conditions.

The proposed boundaries of the active mine site were determined based on soil type, locations of buildings, and surface water features. Setbacks from each feature as well as roadways were considered while determining the activity area.

The planned excavation depth will be approximately to 940 feet above sea level. Because of the topography of the site, the depth from ground level will average 24.6 feet on the South property and 26.3 feet on the North property. The depth to bedrock in the area has been determined to be 50 to 100 feet below ground level. The depth to water table in the area has been determined to be 20 to 50 feet below ground level.

More than 56,000 cubic yards (75,000 tons) of material is planned to be extracted per year, depending upon market conditions. The estimated total production over the life of the site will be from 675,000 to 862,000 cubic yards of material extracted.

Operation Plan

According to FBC’s operations and reclamation plan, “The mining will be in two stages: the South Property and the North Property. The operation, for both stages, will first require the removal of topsoil and over-burden. The topsoil will be stockpiled for later use during reclamation. The overburden will be used to make berms on-site or stockpiled for later use during reclamation. All stockpiles will be in non-sensitive areas within or immediately adjacent to the area of excavation. Any stockpiles not within the excavation area will be encircled with a slit fence.

“The mining operation on the South Property will have annual phasing starting from the south-central point of the mining area. Extraction will start from East to West and then move from South to North on an as needed basis.

“The extraction area is 23.7 acres. The planned excavation depth will be approximately to 940 feet above sea level. The average elevation of the area is 965 feet above sea level, making the average depth of the excavation of 25 feet. The topsoil in the area is estimated to be 9 inches thick and overburden an additional 27 inches. Topsoil yield will be approximately 29,000 cubic yards and overburden will be approximately 86,000 cubic yards. The estimated materials extracted will be over 674,000 cubic yards.

“The mining operation on the North Property will have as needed phasing starting from the center point of the mining area. Extraction will start from south to north on an as needed basis.

“The extraction area is 5.9 acres. The planned excavation depth will be approximately to 940 feet above sea level. The average elevation of the area is 966 feet above sea level, making the average depth of the excavation of 26 feet. The topsoil in the area is estimated to be 9 inches thick and overburden an additional 27 inches. Topsoil yield will be approximately 7,000 cubic yards and overburden will be approximately 21,000 cubic yards. The estimated materials extracted will be over 188,000 cubic yards.”

A look at some facts

What is covered here are some of the facts as we can determine based on printed ordinances and in contacts with FBC, and review of pertinent filed documents on the proposed sand mine pit.

Fact 1: The open pit mine will not operate in the water table at all.

For the county, water use must be monitored. Codes specify, “An estimated daily water budget that describes all the ways that water will be used in the Nonmetallic Mining operation including, but not limited to: the water required for the entire site whether for mining, human use, dust control or any function; the sources of water and all processes in which the water will be used, methods for treating, handling and disposing of water; volume of water consumed and discharged from the site as run-off, stormwater, dewatering or any other mechanism.”

According to the operations and reclamation plan, “The construction of a well on the site is not planned for this site at this time. Any water used, such as for dust control applied by water trucks, will come from outside sources.”

There are surface waters and wetlands on the mining site. In its operations and reclamation plan, FBC indicates the following: “There are three lakes and no rivers located within 1 mile of the Iola Site. The lakes are Keating Lake (~0.15 miles), Norby Lake (~0.3 miles) and Herman Lake (~0.4 miles). There are three ponds near the mine site. One on the property of Gregory Ambrosius (N7055 County Hwy J) and will be avoided with a 500 feet setback. Two are on the property of Amy Ording (N7299 Olson Rd.) and Charles Wasrud (Olson Rd.) and are more than 500 feet from the proposed mine activity area. There is a small man-made pond on the site of the South Property, which still needs to be classified and determined how to either excavate around or mitigate.”

Water drainage is also a concern of adjacent property owners and environmentalists.

For the South Property, the operations and reclamation plan indicates: “The South Property currently drains primarily down the slope from west to east. Because of the infiltration rates of the soil, most stormwater infiltrates on-site. It appears that most of the stormwater pools up in the man-made pond on the east side of the slope. Some of the surface water flows to a low spot on the extreme southeast part of the property. There is a culvert that crosses under Olson Road in that area. A temporary sedimentation screen may be needed to avoid storm water drain through the culvert and across the road into Herman Lake, until the screening berm has been constructed. Once screening berms are constructed along the perimeter, any stormwater runoff will be trapped in the mining area and allowed to infiltrate. The site will become internally drained.”

For the North Property, “The area of interest on the North property primarily drains to the north and then to the west. Because of the infiltration rates of the soil, most stormwater infiltrates on-site. The lowest point on that property is adjunct to the turn on Oak Ridge Road. If there has ever been an issue with storm water, it would have flowed over the top of Oak Ridge Road. There is no culvert under or any ditch along that road, so there does not appear to have been any issues in the past.  Once screening berms are constructed along the perimeter, any stormwater runoff will be trapped in the mining area and allowed to infiltrate. The site will become internally drained.”

Fact 2: Dust will be limited and controlled. Faulks Bros. will take measures to minimize and control dust.

Under the county ordinances for Dust and Mud, “The Operator shall utilize appropriate Best Management Practices as specified by Wisconsin DNR. The Planning and Zoning Committee may require additional practices as deemed appropriate. The operator shall make every effort to prevent tracking of dust, mud and debris to public roads. The operator will be required to clean up any dust, mud and debris that is tracked on a public road. The Planning and Zoning Committee may require the paving of any access onto a public road.”

Fact 3: There will be noise. Berms will be built to channel the noise up into the atmosphere and not out.

According to FBC’s operations and reclamation plan, “Operator equipment utilized during mining and reclamation operations will consist of the following: Front end loaders, screening equipment, rock crushers, conveyors, small generators, dump trucks, haul trucks, bulldozers, excavators, tractors, tractor-trailers, graders, skid steers, discs, seeders, pick-up trucks, water trucks and employee personal vehicles. Noise is limited to the equipment listed above.”

Fact 4: A berm will be built at the beginning but not completely around the entire perimeter. As new areas are excavated, new berms are established.

For the county, it is required that the operator provide “A description of measures to be taken to screen the operation from view with earth banks, vegetative or other screening devices.”

According to FBC’s operations and reclamation plan, “A berm, with minimum height of 10 feet above the right-of-way, will be constructed along the right-of-way of County Highway J, Olson Road, and Oak Ridge Road to screen the mine activity from those roadways. Along boundaries that are not adjacent to roads, the berm construction will be begin at least 25 feet from the lot line to screen the mine activity from those locations. The berm will slant or curve in places to exclude areas that are within required setbacks.

“The berm will have slope of three (3) horizontal units to one (1) vertical unit on the outward facing slope. The inward facing side will vary but will be approximately a slope of two (2) horizontal units to one (1) vertical unit and remain stable. At the time of reclamation, the inward facing side will be graded to the required three (3) horizontal units to one (1) vertical unit slope.”

Fact 5: Truck traffic will increase but is dependent upon the market and the economy. More demand for sand will mean more traffic. Each dump truck has a load of 22 tons, so it computes to 3,409 truckloads per the 75,000 tons per year of extracted materials. Routes for the truck traffic, according to FBC’s operations and reclamation plan, are “Routes for those heading north of site will be north on Hwy. J to State Hwy. 161. Routes for those heading south will be south on Hwy. J to Hwy. B and then on to State Hwy 49 or Hwy. E.” No township or village roads will be used and maintenance of the proposed routes will fall upon Waupaca County.

Fact 6: Faulks Bros. has spill kits should a spill occur. They are required by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to have procedures for such cases.

The county codes specify, “A description of the measures that will be used to contain and remediate any spill or accidental discharge in accordance with Wis. Stats. Ch. 323.60.”

Fact 7: Perhaps years down the road, trees will be cut down on the back part of the lot. At this time, it is not known what trees will be cut down or left alone.

Fact 8: There will be no fencing, according to FBC’s operations and reclamation plan, because “no properties adjacent to the site are zoned residential.” However, there will be gating: “A gate will be installed at both exits/entrances of the mine site on the south property. This gate shall remain locked outside of operation hours.”

Fact 9: No on-site fuel or hazardous waste storage. According to FBC’s operations and reclamation plan, “No on-site permanent fuel storage is planned for this site. Refueling will be conducted on-site with mobile refueling tanks or trucks. The only temporary storge of fuel will be in approved mobile fuel trailers.” And “No hazardous waste or materials will be stored or result from the mining operations.”

Fact 10: A reclamation plan is required by the Wisconsin DNR, Waupaca County, and the Village of Iola. The Town of Scandinavia abides by the Waupaca County ordinances governing this. The Iola Car Show as the property owner is responsible for any tree or vegetative plantings they may wish to make.

According to Joe Opperman, executive director of the Iola Car Show, “Returning the area to its current use as a spectator parking lot is the general plan for reclamation. This would involve planting native vegetation. It will also be an opportunity to do some intentional improvements to the space, planting trees that are thoughtfully located, etc. We are also optimistic it might present opportunities to add additional/new features to the grounds. As it is now, we only use approximately half of this space for parking, which might mean the reclamation becomes a cost-effective way to develop things like offroad courses, amphitheaters, vehicle demonstration areas, etc. that might otherwise have been cost prohibitive or impractical as standalone projects.”

For the county regarding a reclamation plan, “Chapter 43 Non-Metallic Mining Reclamation Ordinance for Waupaca County must be followed. East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (ECWRPC) administers the Reclamation Ordinance. Approval of a reclamation plan and issuance of a reclamation permit must be received and placed on file with the County prior to commencement of extraction activities.”

For the village, there are specifics noted for the reclamation plan.

“All final slopes around the area be flatter than a three to one horizontal slope in a sand, gravel or borrow pit operation, or in a safe angle or repose in a quarry situation;

“Excavations below the grade of the nearest abutting public street or highway shall be set back from the street or highway a distance of not less than that required for buildings and structures in the same zoning district;

“All final slopes shall be covered with adequate topsoil and seeded to prevent erosion;

“The plan shall require that, after completion of the anticipated operation, the area shall be cleared of all debris and be left in a workmanlike condition, subject to the approval of the Village Board;

“There is a timetable for completion of various stages of reclamation of the nonmetallic mining site.”

The reclamation plan outline by FBC in its mining and reclamation plan states: “The South Property has a total of 23.7 acres that will be reclaimed, with approximately 8.7 acres of periphery slope and 15 acres of pit floor.

“The North Property has a total of 5.9 acres that will be reclaimed, with 1.8 acres of periphery slope and 4.1 acres of pit floor.”

It also indicates the following:

“Overburden that was used to make berms or stockpiled will be used to form the required slopes for reclamation. The final slope will be three (3) horizontal units to one (1) vertical unit as requested by the property owner.”

“The topsoil that was stockpiled during the beginning of operations will be spread to minimum depth of 4 inches across the reclamation site.”

“All berms and haul roads will be graded to meet the final reclamation plan grades. It is up to the current property owner if they want the entrance/exits removed from the site.”

“Any drainage or sediment control structures used will be removed once the vegetative cover has been effectively reestablished.”

“A seed mix, determined by the owner of the property, will be used on all slopes and any disturbed areas that are not to be immediately reverted to agricultural use, at the time of reclamation.”

“A fertilizer will be incorporated into the topsoil of the seeded area using a light discing or harrowing. It may be applied just before or in conjunction with final discing or harrowing of the site.

“If seeding is to be done using pressure spray, the required amount of fertilizer shall be mixed with the water and seed and applied directly during seeding operation. If applying fertilizer in this way, discing and harrowing is not required after placement.

“The required fertilizer composition of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Potash will be determined by soil testing prior to reseeding operations.”

“During reclamation, silt screening and other runoff catchment will be used to prevent stormwater runoff until revegetation has been established per the standard set below.”

“To determine successful revegetation for final vegetation cover, Wisconsin Code NR 216 ‘final stabilization’ will be used. The standard states that ‘final stabilization’ has been achieved when a ‘uniform perennial vegetative cover has been established with a density of at least 70% of the cover for unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent structures.’”

Fact 11: There may be blasting but only if large boulders necessitate it. Faulks Bros. has indicated that no or very little blasting will occur based on their operations elsewhere. At this time, it is an unknown factor. But if blasting is needed, Waupaca County and Village of Iola have ordinances which must be followed.

For the county, “All blasting shall be done in compliance with State and Federal guidelines and requirements, including Chap. SPS 307.41 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code. In addition to the regulations on blasting in Section 19.5, blasting hours may be regulated by the conditions placed on the Conditional Use Permit. Blasting logs shall be provided to the County within forty-eight (48) hours, excluding weekends, of a written request from the County. Blasting logs shall include only the date, time and location of any blasting activities.”

And there is also, “A description of measures to be taken to control noise, dust and vibrations from the operations, along with a statement of the proposed frequency of blasting, if any, to be used in the operation.”

For the village, a specific permit is required for blasting and rock crushing and must be filed at least 60 days prior to the licensing period and the permit will be issued only after the Village Building Inspector recommends it. The plan of operation must include: “methods of screening from adjacent properties, hours of operation, hours of blasting and operation of rock crusher, dust and noise control, blasting procedures, location and height of stock piles, whether a rock crusher will be needed and how often, water supply, drainage course, maximum depth, legal description of property in question and other information the Village Engineer deems pertinent to the proposed operation. Such plan of reorganization shall be approved by the Village Engineer.”

In addition, the village requires a certificate of insurance identifying the Village of Iola as a party insured in the amount of $500,000 for damage to property, and $500,000 for injury to one person and $1 million for injury to more than one person caused by the blasting.”

The village has blasting procedures and controls involving energy ratios for allowable vibration, measurement of blasts when requested by the Village Engineer, and the keeping of a blasting log which is to be filed within 48 hours after the blast with the Village Clerk-Treasurer.

Iola Car Show use of funds generated

As to the question of how the Iola Car Show would use revenue generated from the sand mining, Joe Opperman, executive director, indicated “It is very difficult to say specifically where the funds will be used over time because our operation is still tied to the results of each year’s show. We are never going to be able to predict a bad weather event or a bad show at the beginning of a budget year. In years of great shows, this may help to support increases in giving. In years of a poor show, it may be diverted into simply supporting the business. We have lots of business needs and goals for community support, but the ability to forecast reliably into the future when they will be achievable isn’t realistic. Some examples of how we expect to apply these funds include: Replenishing our reserve fund which was more than 100 percent depleted in 2020; maintaining, improving or adding to facilities/grounds, and supporting or increasing payments made to volunteer groups and community projects.”