Sandy

I have another confession to make. OK I have always hated sand. I just didn't realize how much until recently. I can remember after river/beach trips as a kid the dreading feeling of sand in my shoes and trying to empty it all out. Or even when visiting in-laws in my 20's and the inordinate amount of the sand that would be tracked into the Florida house. That sand was black and had to be vacuumed and swept up constantly. It even followed us home in the suitcases for years. When my kids played in sand piles at parks, it would end up in hair and baths were necessary as soon as we got home. What a pain!

How can something made up of such small particles be such a pill?

Heading up North for Labor Day we drove by this huge mountain of sand. This is located outside Babcock on the edge of the Neceda Wildlife Refuge and our nation's cranberry bogs. How could something that looked so awesome be so detrimental?

The reality now is what getting this pile of sand is doing to the environment in order to get it. If you look at its base, you will see a truck. Hundreds of these trucks will daily be transporting this sand to rail cars. And those trucks have to use the same roads that you and I have to travel. So not only is its silica released as it is mined but as it is transported. Sand will be everywhere.

The environmental results include pollution, health issues as both water and air are contaminated. This drilling pollutes our waters, disturbs our water table and destroys the countryside. It dusts our crops. The water that is needed for drilling it is taken from us and the farmers won't have it for their crops either.

Is this the future of our beautiful state? Fracking is going to destroy so much with long lasting results if we don't get legislation in place /at least get a state moratorium on it.

We had better get busy and CRUSH this business before it crushes us.

Nature can not be rebuilt.