FRACKING CREATES JOBS EVEN WHERE THERE’S NO FRACKING: Sand industry back in business in western Wisconsin.

“The industry was fairly dormant for a while, but now it has reawakened,” Syverson said this month. “These mines are going full out again.”

Representatives of several companies with regional frac sand mining operations confirmed Syverson’s assessment.

“We are running pretty much full time, back to 24 hours a day,” said Sharon Masek, manager of mine planning and industrial relations for Superior Silica Sands in Wisconsin. “We’re pretty much back to our peak levels of employment.”

That means employment at Superior Silica’s five mines in Barron and Chippewa counties has reached close to 200, up from about 70 last year when two of the facilities operated part time and two were completely shut down, Masek said. The company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is seeking to further boost its western Wisconsin workforce in the coming weeks.

Have you hugged a fracker today?