texas and new mexico could see construction of big sand transport system

A more than 16-mile long conveyor belt system to be used to haul sand for hydraulic fracturing may be soon built near Loving, New Mexico.

The system will belong to the Austin-based Atlas Sand Company, the largest frack sand reserve holder in Western Texas, and will be designed to haul sand from an offloading facility in Loving County, Texas to a loadout facility measuring some 140 acres outside of Loving.

To get the project underway, Atlas Sand has applied to the Bureau of Land Management for a 70-foot-wide permanent right of way.

If built, the conveyor system would greatly reduce the use of trucks that are normally employed to haul the sand.

In response, the Bureau of Land Management’s Carlsbad Field Office will be conducting a public scoping process designed to solicit input on the proposed project.
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A press release from the BLM notes that the project would utilize existing roads wherever possible to access the right of way: “Temporary workspace areas located outside of the permanent right of way are needed during construction for material handling, temporary storage and project staging activities.”
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The public scoping period will expire on February 4.

By Garry Boulard

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