The new plan involving the former Farm 2 Rail proposal for sand processing and shipping near St. Charles is expected to double the amount of sand processed by a new plant.
                     
Winona County Planning and Environmental Services Director Jason Gilman told the county board the facility will be limited to 150 trucks per day, but because the plan is to ship the sand underground to the processing plant, it would increase the facility's output.

Gilman said the plan is for 50 of the 150 truckloads per day to run through St. Charles, or about one every seven minutes. A slurry pipeline would be constructed along county road 37 to ship the sand to the new plant. A grain processing facility has been eliminated.
                     
A number of other changes are being proposed by the new owners Proppant, LLC.  Gilman said the new owners want an environmental assessment worksheet completed on the project before they will seek a permit from the county to being operations.
                    
The firm's timeline says construction of a rail siding and the drying facility would be in the spring of 2013 with the hiring of 40 to 70 employees next summer.