Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, Tau Center, Winona, Minn.

The Land Stewardship Project's Citizens’ Frac Sand Summit was a huge success! Despite a winter weather advisory, over 225 people came together in Winona, Minn., on Jan. 18, 2014, to build our power to stop the frac sand industry from destroying rural communities.

At the summit we launched a petition drive calling on Governor Mark Dayton to take effective action to protect Minnesota from the frac sand industry. Gov. Dayton has laid out a policy that makes a lot of sense—a ban on the frac sand industry in the fragile karst area of southeast Minnesota and tough standards for the whole state that protect air and water quality. This petition supports that policy and urges the Governor to take action to implement it. Our goal is to gather 5,000 signatures from Minnesotans in three months. Here is what you can do:

• Sign the petition online and share it via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.
• Print a copy of the petition and get your friends and neighbors to sign. One purpose of the petition drive is to create an opportunity to have conversations with friends and relatives to educate them about the issue and engage them.
• Contact us about an LSP member-leader or staff member coming to your church or civic organization to talk about the frac sand issue and the petition drive.

Information & Presentations from the Summit

• Grassroots Victories Achieved to Control frac Sand Mining in Our Communities — Marilyn Frauenkron Bayer of Houston, Minn.

• Reflections on What is at Stake for the Land and Family Farmers — Bob Christie, family livestock and crop farmer from southeast Minnesota. Listen to the podcast.
  

• Air Quality, Human Health and the Frac Sand Industry — Crispin Pierce, director of the Environmental Public Health Program at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Pierce is conducting cutting-edge research on monitoring silica dust at frac sand facilities. Listen to the podcast.

• Ultrafine Particle Exposure & Surface Mining — Michael McCawley, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, West Virginia University. McCawley is a leading expert on ambient air quality monitoring and assessing risk to human health. Listen to the podcast.

• Silica Sand in Minnesota: Balancing Human, Environmental & Economic Health — John Linc Stine, Commissioner, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Listen to the podcast.

Summit Media Coverage

• Rochester Post-Bulletin: Back Roads: St. Charles man a 'reluctant activist'
• KAAL (Rochester/ Austin): Locals Hold First Citizens Silica Sand Mining Summit
• WKBT (La Crosse, WI): Citizens voice concern over frac sand industry
• WXOW (La Crosse, WI): Experts share environmental, health impacts of frac sand mining
• Winona Daily News: New plan to halt frac sand
• Rochester Post-Bulletin: Summit in Winona to explore frac sand mining
• Rochester Post-Bulletin: Silica opponents prepare to fight the industry
• Rochester Post-Bulletin: Experts: Ultrafine particles are biggest silica threat