I request a moratorium and direct language calling for a MPCA pollution permit regarding frac sand mining in MInnesota.

Please also see the following testimonial.

Testimonial of Sarah Miles 30583 Headwaters Dr. Rushford, MN. 55971 Wiscoy Township, Winona County I have spent my entire life living in, or within a stones throw of, the geographical region known as the Driftless Area. I earned a Bachelors degree from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosses College of Science and Allied Health where I majored in Geography with an Environmental Science concentration. My main area of interest was in prairie restoration, particularly within the Driftless Area. Because the Driftless Area is composed, in part, of thick sandstone deposits desired by the hydraulic fraccing industry for their extraction process, it is important that decision-makers familiarize themselves with this unique geologic formation and the subculture that has evolved therein. About 540 million years ago, the Paleozoic era began when the second of three supercontinents, known as Pannotia, broke apart. At this time there was no terrestrial life on earth. However, the worlds briney waters teemed with invertebrate forms of life and their skeletal remains littered the ocean floor millennia after millennia. This became the sedimentary rock known as limestone. Inorganic sediments also piled up forming todays sandstone. Tectonic upheaval led to the ocean floor becoming dry land in parts of the new supercontinent Pangea that had locked together by the end of the Paleozoic. Life on land had taken a firm hold by this time as well and Pangea would eventually break apart forming the disparate continents we know today. Fast-forward to the glacial periods of North America, occurring approximately every 40,000 to 100,000 years for the past 2.5 million years. These episodes of glacier formation exerted tremendous pressure upon the land which the glaciers glided over. They flattened everything in their path and left behind terminal moraines and glacial till. Marvelously, however, one area in central North America was repeatedly skipped over by these periods of glaciation. Scientists cant say why exactly, but the Watersmeet Dome, an ancient area of uplifted Cambrian rock, seems to have contributed to the divergence. In some cases, the southbound mile-thick mass of ice split apart forming an east lobe and a west lobe which met together again farther south. This left the entire parcel we know as the Driftless Area, contained mostly in the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota but also to a lesser extent in Iowa and Illinois, unflattened by the drifting ice sheet. Therefore, unlike the surrounding physical geography merely 10,000 years old, the Driftless Area is an example of a truly ancient landscape containing bedrock up to half a billion years old. The hilly topography is the result of eons of erosional forces taking place on this ancient seabed landscape. The highly degenerative nature of the sandstone and limestone

bedrock created some unusual and fascinating geologic formations. In addition to the familiar hills and bluffs of the region, this karst landscape as it is called, boasts such features as cave systems, disappearing streams, underground streams, blind valleys, sinkholes, springs and cold streams. On ridgetops and dry slopes grew tallgrass prairie as well as bur oak savanna, now an incredibly rare habitat. Wet prairies and marshes took hold in the valley floors while sugar maple and basswood forests thrived on north-facing slopes and in some protected valleys. On the upper reaches of south and southwest oriented slopes developed a unique ecosystem called a goat prairie. On some northerly hillsides are found algific talus slopes where the endangered Iowa Pleistocene Snail and the threatened plant Northern Monkshood make their home. In addition to the utterly unique physical geography that has developed in the Driftless Area, a cultural geography has also been established here that is strongly rooted in the character of this specific landscape. The agricultural practices of early European settlers in the 1800s eventually led to tremendous erosion. In some cases, up to 15 of sediment was relocated from hillsides to valley floors and hundreds of miles of crystal clear streams were inundated with tons of sediment. In the 1930s, the first soil conservation practices were put forth and by the 1980s water and stream quality had improved and trout populations were on the rise. The varied topography seems to have forced the local people to give significant consideration to their land use practices on this landscape. Careful thought and research has enabled us to determine what crops to grow, where and how in order to live and farm within the confines that nature has established here. This has given rise to the modern concepts of sustainable agriculture and the practice of Organic certification. Organic Valley, the nations largest organic dairy cooperative, is located right here in the Driftlless Area. The University of Wisconsin Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems has a program titled the Driftless Food and Farm Project which works with the regions sustainable agriculture farmers, processors, distributors, chefs, planning commissions and others to define the culinary identity of the region and develop agritourism. The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota supports the development and enhancement of sustainable farming systems through farmer-to-farmer networking, innovation and education. The Driftless Area is also known for apple production, grass-fed beef and has a market for forest botanicals, especially mushrooms. In 2009, this region was federally recognized by the Treasury Divisions Tax and Trade Bureau as the largest winemaking region in the country. Approximately 21 million people live in the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago-Milwaukee metropolitan areas and the sustainable agriculture practices of the Driftless Area help nourish these barely tapped markets. There is a well-established precedent in the Driftless Area for the conservation of our precious natural resources. Organizations such as the Midwest Driftless Area Restoration Effort, the Land Stewardship Project, the Blufflands Alliance, the Mississippi Valley Conservancy, the Prairie Enthusiasts, Trout Unlimited and others seek to preserve our sacred, unique and beloved landscape. All four states of the Driftless Area have stream restoration programs which have restored more than 450 miles of stream habitat. All four

states combined have numerous protected areas including forest, savanna, prairie and wetland. If frac sand mining were to continue unchecked, everything that so many have worked to protect, the sustainable way of life that so many farmers have developed here and the agriculture- and scenic-based tourism that is still growing will end. The half billion plus years that led to this unique land area and subculture will be undermined in a relative blink of an eye. A few will profit vastly, several more will have jobs for a couple of decades and the rest will be left holding a depleted and toxic bag not at all resembling the ornate and beautiful thing it once was. As a child, I climbed to the top of the hill that overlooks the Century Farm where my Norwegian ancestors settled and my parents still live today. I stood on the rocky outcropping of the treeless opening in the woods that I would later learn is called a goat prairie. I felt the unhindered wind blow all around me and felt the sun, as close to it as I ever had been, warm my face. I listened to the sounds of the Earth and I felt my spirit soar. It was the first time I felt the freedom and oneness of the universe, with me a part of it. My ancestral farm is in Trempealeau County, once hailed by George Gale, founder of the county, as the Garden of Eden, now host to more frac sand mines than any other county in the Driftless Area. I dont know yet if this short-sighted industry will devour my homeland in its ceaseless greed. I dont know if those universal awesome powers of wind and sun that I so intimately experienced that day on the craggy hilltop will be utilized in time to steer our society towards sustainable energy and away from detrimental frivolous practices. I do know that when I finish typing this testimonial I will return to working on my business plan. It is a plan that could employ several full-time and several seasonal staff members on a sustainably run farm in Winona County, MN that encourages its clientele to learn more about the land we grow our food in and our various roles in maintaining a healthy balance. I hope that this type of local-minded economy has a place in southeast Minnesota for a long time coming and that those elected to protect the sovereign rights of the people, not those of the corporation, will act accordingly.