Appeals Court Upholds Winona County Frac Sand Mine Decision

Opponents of silica sand mining in southeastern Minnesota have been handed a setback.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has shot down a challenge to a decision by the Winona County Board involving a silica sand mining operation at a site south of Saint Charles. The Appeals Court, in a ruling issued Tuesday, found the substantial evidence in the record supports the County Board’s decision not to require a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement for the operation.

The Nisbit mine was the first so-called “frac” sand the mine approved in Winona County and became operational last fall.