St Croix River Road Ramblings

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Sunday, June 10, 2012

Grantsburg Frac Sand Mine WI St Croix River Update

Some more info about the frac sand mine along the St. Croix River at Grantsburg, WI.
Soderbeck Frac Sand mine along St. Croix near Grantsburg WI

1.  State of WI taking company to court for 5 day spill into the St. Croix River
Account of WI DNR taking frac sand company to justice dept
2.  Friends of the Sunrise River meeting minutes
Grantsburg Frac sand problems in MN
   This article says the mining company, Tiller is hauling sand to a pit near Sunrise MN and North Branch MN for processing (washing) and shipping.  The quantity of sand being mined is detailed:

"Tiller has been using the Sunrise site to store sand that will be processed at the North Branch facility.  In Nov-Dec of 2011 they hauled 190,000 tons of sand from their Grantsburg WI mine to the Sunrise site.  One concerned citizen stated that they counted 20 trucks in 10 minutes on MN River Road, which is gravel."   

This sand is estimated to be worth about $100 per ton as it comes from the mine and about $200 per ton at the oil wells in ND.  The November/December 190,000 tons is $19.000,000 that a private company is getting for selling part of our glacial heritage.  What do the citizens of Burnett county get other than a small amount of property tax and a hole in the ground.  

North Dakota is voting whether to drop property taxes state wide this week while they already have eliminated any state income taxes because of the $5 billion they receive as their share of the oil being pumped out of ND lands.  To get that out, WI and MN frac sand are needed in the order of 15 train car loads per oil well.   

We too should be reaping some of the benefits of our natural resources for the citizens of the state.  MN has it's taconite tax, we should have a sand tax.  Interstate Energy Partners paid a very very small property tax on the land in 2011--based on the evaluation before the 2011 sale.  One would assume the property tax would increase dramatically this year based on the actual value of the land.  

Using public records available from the Burnett County Wisconsin web site we find that Interstate has bought about 180 acres of land in the mining area.



Parcel ID Tax ID MapID Name Property Address Municipality Acres Year
Parcel 1
07-010-2-38-19-07-3 04-000-011000 3925 INTERSTATE ENERGY PARTNERS LLC , TOWN OF GRANTSBURG 40.0 2011
Parcel 2
07-010-2-38-19-07-4 03-000-011000 3928 INTERSTATE ENERGY PARTNERS LLC , 23920 GRAVEL PIT RD TOWN OF GRANTSBURG 39.05 2011
Parcel 3
07-010-2-38-19-07-4 03-000-011000 3928 INTERSTATE ENERGY PARTNERS LLC , 24297 TENNESSEE RD TOWN OF GRANTSBURG 39.05 2011
Parcel 4
07-010-2-38-19-18-2 01-000-011000 4242 INTERSTATE ENERGY PARTNERS LLC , TOWN OF GRANTSBURG 32.0 2011
Parcel 5
07-010-2-38-19-18-2 04-000-011000 4246 INTERSTATE ENERGY PARTNERS LLC , TOWN OF GRANTSBURG 30.0 2011

Burnett Co land transfer March 2011 for the Sand Pit
The Wisconsin state real estate transfer fee is $0.30 for each $100 of value or fraction thereof (an effective rate of 0.30%)..  With it one can calculate the selling price of the land to the frac mining company.
From the Burnett Co Tax files:  
Grantor(s): FALLSTROM, JANICE E;
PLAIN, DIANNE M;
SODERBECK, DALE R;
SODERBECK, GERALD A
Grantee(s): INTERSTATE ENERGY PARTNERS LLC

The transfer fee of fee of $1305  which is charged at .3% of sale price indicates $435000 for selling price of 3 parcels of between 30 and 40 acres each.


Location Plat Block Lot Type Lot # Description Municipality Parcel
NENW, Sec. 18, T38, R19 METES AND BOUNDS 38-19, 18 - NE NW (EXC PCL)
SESW, Sec. 7, T38, R19 METES AND BOUNDS 38-19, 7 - SE SW (EXC PCL)
SWSE, Sec. 7, T38, R19 METES AND BOUNDS 38-19, 7 - SW SE (EXC PCL)

Gary and Jeanne Marek sold 30 acres   transfer fee of $270 indicating that at .3% the sale price was  $90,000

Location Plat Block Lot Type Lot # Description Municipality Parcel
SENW, Sec. 18, T38, R19 METES AND BOUNDS 38-19, 18 - SE NW (E 30 ACRES)
 
For those of you still wondering about property taxes, check out the Wisconsin Towns Association site Frac mine property tax assessment    An example there discusses frac sand land selling for $10,000 per acre and about $1 million per site.  Folks, this already happening, we aren't going to roll it back, so we need to regulate it to protect our own neighborhoods and water and tax the heck out of it so we can become like TX, WY, AK, ND and the other oil producing states that have no state income tax.  They need our sand to produce their oil!