MPR’s Elizabeth Baier reports on how some landowners in southeast Minnesota are considering the option of selling or leasing their land to big companies who want to explore the area's natural resources and alternative forms of energy.

Energy and mining companies use the silica sand to extract oil and natural gas from
the ground and geologists say there are virtually unlimited amounts of this sand buried beneath the bluffs near the Mississippi River….but the process doesn't come without controversy. Many rural Minnesota communities, like those near Red Wing, want to take their time before they start the sand mining process.

Awarded:

2013 MNSPJ Page One Award, second place in Radio - Hard News Report category