The state of Iowa finds itself at the forefront of the debate on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial process of extracting oil and natural gas embedded in shale rock and limestone.

The process, also known as “fracking,” uses a high-pressure application of water, chemicals and silica sand to create cracks in the rock, releasing the trapped gas and oil. Northeast Iowa happens to be rich in the high quality silica sand used in fracking, but the mining of that sand comes with environmental issues of its own.

The College of Public Health is actively engaged in research around frac sand mining, with the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center conducting a year-long air-quality study.

MPH student Liz Swanton worked to cement a partnership between the college’s Environmental Health Sciences Research Center and Trempealeau County, Wisc., where the CPH researchers are conducting a demonstration project to evaluate community exposures to respirible crystalline silica.

Also, On Aug. 22, the college joined the Landlocked Film Festival in screening “The Price of Sand,” a documentary about frac sand mining in the Driftless Area of northeast Iowa, southwest Wisconsin and southeast Minnesota. After the film, researchers from the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health led a discussion of the environmental and policy implications of frac sand mining.