Group gathers to protest frac-sand mining

National mining conference took place during protest 

A national frac-sand mining conference met inside the La Crosse Center on Tuesday.

Outside, a group of about 25 protested, holding signs and speaking out against frac-sand mining.

It’s to send a message, that after tomorrow, go home. Go back. And don’t come back,” Land Stewardship Project’s Doug Nopar said to those protesting.

Another from the project, Vince Ready said the mining companies are getting away with “raping the land.”

“If anybody here peed on the wall over there, you can arrest them,” Ready said. “Yet, they’re allowed to ruin our country side scot-free.”

Ready added that companies who come into towns never mention the negative impacts left behind for the community to deal with.

The protest came on the heels of a decision by an appeals court that upheld a ruling by Trempealeau County to ban a frac-sand company from getting a mining permit. Nopar said they will ban one mine at a time if it comes to that.