A Texas company wants to put a 430 acre mine and processing plant in Dunn County, northeast of Menomonie. Wednesday night the Tainter Township Planning board did not vote on the proposed strip mine because it says the Texas company that wants to build didn't update its proposal.

The meeting got heated, as the board says one man was upset that the meetings haven't been open to the public so far, and shouted about the public being railroaded. The Sheriff escorted that man out of the meeting. That's when board members tell us the audience started shouting, "go back to Texas" and started clapping. The Tainter Township will take up the mine at the next meeting.

The company would blast apart the hills and crush the stone into sand, but the mine would be right near the Hoffman Hills Recreation Area and could change the view from the park. A committee member brought up a possible issue with wetlands, and wanted evidence from the company that it wouldn't harm the area.

The farm where the mine would be overlaps the towns of Tainter and Red Cedar. It sits among rolling hills on an empty road. Trees cover the ridges and hills, but it's the sandstone under the trees and topsoil the Texas company wants. That sand is round, hard, and clean- just what Proppant Specialists is looking for.

If the proposal goes through, the project would start at the hill. The miners would strip off topsoil and trees. Then they would level the hill out and eventually replace the top soil. When this site is done, they'll move to another hill on the farm. The plan has the town chairman worried.

“They would essentially eliminate the hills and some of the wooded areas and things that are around there,” says Randy Valaske, the town of Tainter chairman. “It's going to change the landscape a lot.”

Hoffman Hills State Recreation Area is just east of the site. The DNR says 35,000 people visit the park every year, bringing in $1.5 million in tourism revenue. Jim Janowak, the park supervisor for 20 years, lives in the park and he's concerned about having the mine so close to the park.

“If it changes the visual landscape, sure that would concern us,” Janowak says. “We have that observation tower on one of the highest points in Dunn County and so we'll probably be able to notice it from that vantage point.”

Janowak also says fumes and dust from the mine could hurt the animal and plant life in Hoffman Hills. Tainter residents are worried about the noise and traffic the mine would bring.

“You're going to have trucks going away and coming to that site so there's going to be an awful lot of truck traffic,” Valaske says.

He also says he's against the mine, but thinks it will probably go through as long as the company meets all state and local restrictions.

CLICK HERE to read Proppant’s mining proposal. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.