As pump jacks pull more and more oil out of shale rock buried deep below the western part of North Dakota, an increasing amount of natural gas travels up through the wells with few obvious destinations.
An Atlanta-based fracking company is taking the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to court over its decision to deny a permit to build a $75 million sand-processing plant in Monroe County.
Competing with lower-cost mines in Texas, the frac-sand-mining company Hi-Crush recently announced it would be idling part of its plant on Highway Q in Whitehall.
Hi-Crush Partners, which operates one of the largest frac-sand mines in Wisconsin, has paused production at a plant in Whitehall, citing weak demand for its product.
Wisconsin officials say early tests have found no harmful chemicals after a spill near a frack sand mine sent millions of gallons of sludge into waterways.
Wisconsin officials were testing for environmental and health hazards Thursday after an accident at a frack sand mine sent millions of gallons of sludge into waterways, tinting them orange as the thick plume traveled downstream into the Mississippi River.
Wisconsin officials are working to determine the environmental impact of releasing millions of gallons of sludge from a settling pond to rescue a trapped sand mine worker.
New data from the U.S. Geological Survey show the country's production of industrial sand increased more than 36 percent in 2017 as Wisconsin again led the nation.