Surface mining to obtain sand that is perfectly sized for use in the hydraulic fracturing process has been increasing in recent years. Over the summer, FracTracker had the opportunity to document a number of sand mining activities occurring in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin that supply frac sand to the oil and gas industry. Explore a selection of […]
By Dave Dister, Consulting Ecologist, Ludington, MI One of the prime reasons I moved to the Ludington, Michigan area in 2008 was the aesthetic and biological diversity evident at Ludington State Park (LSP). As a field biologist nearing the end of his formal career, I was eager to conduct a study of the vascular plants […]
By Ted Auch, Great Lakes Program Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance While solar and wind energy gets much of the attention in renewable energy debates, various states are also leaning more and more on burning biomass and waste to reach renewable energy targets and mandates. As is the case with all sources of energy, these so-called “renewable […]
Ludington State Park, Sargent Sand’s Mine, and US Silica and Sylvania Minerals By Ted Auch, Great Lakes Program Coordinator When it comes to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), frac sand mining may be the most neglected aspect of the industry’s footprint. (HVHF demand on a per-well basis is increasing by 8% per year.) To help fill […]
Updated National Well Data By Matt Kelso, Manager of Data & Technology In February 2014, the FracTracker Alliance produced our first version of a national well data file and map, showing over 1.1 million active oil and gas wells in the United States. We have now updated that data, with the total of wells […]
Recently, FracTracker has been getting requests from residents in many locations to map large-scale oil and gas operations in their area. We now have content for Michigan, which happens to correspond with the release of additional map export functionality on FracMapper: Michigan Shale Viewer. Please click the expanding arrows icon in the top right to […]
