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WABASHA, MN (WKOW) -- Wabasha's planning commission has unanimously approved a permit for a permanent facility to process Wisconsin sand.
A Rochester Post-Bulletin report says the Superior Sand System plant will be used to store silica sand and load it onto rail cars.
Some citizens urged the city council to require an environmental assessment. But the members decided the conditional-use permit was enough.
Also, the plant is on railroad land, where federal regulations override local ones. The only power the city has is to regulate trucks.
The council did impose a number of conditions. For example, the company can't bring in more than 280 trucks daily, can't exceed noise limits and can't chemically process the sand there.
The sand is used for "fracking," a process to fracture rock to release oil or gas.
