The public hearing concerning EOG’s non-metalic mining application and permit on the Dennis Schindler property addition of Scott Johnson property for storm water run-off project was opened at 7:30 pm by plan commission chairman Doug Zwiefelhofer at the Cooks Valley Town Hall located at 15751 40th Street. Plan commission members present were Stanley Sarauer, Thomas Short, and Damian Prince. Attorney Glenn Stoddard represented the Town of Cooks Valley. Representatives from EOG and residents are listed on the attached sheet.
Chairman Doug Zwiefelhofer conducted introductions of the plan commission members and EOG representatives.
Tom Maul, plant manager of the DS mine and Howard mine, provided a history of the DS mine beginning four years ago with the approval of the EOG non-metallic mining permit. In March of 2012, construction of the DS mine was started and the process worked smoothly for two years. In 2014, a precipitation event occurred which overtopped their water retention ponds and overflowed onto the Berge/Flodquist farms. Chippewa County Land Conservation Dept. requested for work to be done to alleviate the water problem in collaboration with EOG. The amendment to the EOG non-metallic mining permit increases the storm water storage and treatment by a factor of 10. This project does not increase the mine area but only increases the area for water storage. The standards set by the DNR and the county were within normal parameters but did not work for this area. There will be a series of ponds where the water is siphoned from the deepened consecutive ponds with treatment by biostar polyglucosumine [not an acrylamide] for the settlement of silt before released into the culvert. The water will be treated to a level of 40 milligrams per liter. A plan is to release the water slowly so as not to affect the farmers down stream. This design increased the water storage capacity from a range of 33 million gallons to 52 million gallons for storage and release. The project is designed to receive back-to-back 100 year rainfall events, i.e. 12 inches of rainfall in a 48 hour time period. If this capacity is not enough, the corporate heads have ordered the water to be pumped back into the mine pit.
Q. Are you going to release the same amount of water this year as last year? EOG will release amounts of water based on rainfall events. The release will be gauged so as not to aggravate the farmers’ crops or their ability to get into their fields. Twenty percent of the run-off from the DS mine goes to the east and eighty percent goes to the south. EOG is working with the neighbors to control the amount of water release as each neighbor has different needs. The improvements allow for the release to simulate a thunderstorm with control of the flow of water from a trickle to 5000 gpm.
Chairman Doug Zwiefelhofer closed the public hearing at 8:01 pm.