24 tons

Currently, in-basin frac sand is available between $25 and $37 per ton at the mine.

Frac sand linked to lung disease in workers Sand is basically silica — and breathing in silica is one of the oldest known workplace dangers. Inside the lungs, exposure to the tiny particles has been shown to sometimes lead to serious lung diseases like silicosis and lung cancer.

It is not flammable, combustible or explosive. It does not cause burns or severe skin or eye irritation. A single exposure will not result in serious adverse health effects. Crystalline silica (quartz) is not known to be an environmental hazard.

Frac sand plays an important role in the process of fracturing the shale to release natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids from pores in the rock. When the high-pressure water stream forces the small perforations to become larger fractures, frac sand holds these fractures open to continue releasing fossil fuels.

On the benefits side, fracking increases economic activity, employment, income and housing prices. But, it also brings more truck traffic, increases in crime and potential health impacts possibly due to air and/or water pollution.

Sand is delivered by the pneumatic or belly-dump trucks, starting at a transload facility or mine and ending at the well site. A newer technology being employed by freight companies are sandbox containers that can be placed on a flatbed trailer and driven to well sites.

You DO NOT Require a “Tank Endorsement” When Hauling in the US.

Oren’s company in 2011 developed the SandBox, an 8-foot by 10-foot metal crate capable of holding up to 46,500 pounds of frac sand. Once the boxes are delivered they are placed on a cradle which conveys the sand into the blender. As boxes are emptied, they are easily replaced with full boxes.

Do the math and therefore a 10 yard dump truck of sand box sand would weigh about 28,000 lbs. if dry.

What is proppant? Proppant is “sand or similar particulate material suspended in water or other fluid and used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to keep fissures open.” (from Wiktionary)

During the completion (fracing) phase, a mix of water, chemicals, and proppant is forced into the wellbore at super high pressure, fracturing the shale, thus allowing petroleum liquids to move out through the perforations and up to ground level.

In the United States, the states of New York and Maryland ban fracking. In Australia, the state of Victoria has also banned fracking.

Once the fractures have been created, injection ceases and the fracturing fluids begin to flow back to the surface. Used fracturing fluids that return to the surface are often referred to as flowback, and these wastes are typically stored in open pits or tanks at the well site prior to disposal.

Fracking fluid and produced water gets mixed together. In the U.S., nearly all of this wastewater is injected into disposal wells. These deep wells are designed to prevent the water from escaping and contaminating drinking water aquifers, surface water, and ecosystems.

This loophole amended the Safe Drinking Water Act — a major tool the EPA uses to keep our drinking water clean — to provide an exemption for the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing (or fracking). As a result, the EPA does not have the legal authority to regulate fracking fluids. Hence, the “Halliburton loophole.”

In simplified terms, the fracking process starts with a well that is drilled vertically or at an angle from the surface to a depth of 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 kilometers) or more, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Study after study has highlighted the lack of toxicity information available on fracking fluid—the mix of chemicals, water and sand injected deep into the ground to fracture oil- and gas-trapping rock. In addition, another eight fracking fluid compounds, the researchers found, are proved to be toxic to mammals.

The “fracking boom” in several different parts of the nation led to a new source of hydrocarbons to the atmosphere, affecting abundances of both toxic benzene and ozone, including in areas that were not previously affected much by such air pollution.

Fracking requires more water than conventional gas drilling; but when natural gas is used in place of coal or nuclear fuel to generate electricity, it saves water. Unconventional drilling’s water demand can be better or worse than alternative energy sources, the study finds.

The Texan researchers ruled that “surface spills” of fracking fluids posed a greater risk to groundwater than fracking itself. In short, the report implies that fracking is no more hazardous than conventional oil and gas operations.