Residents say the state does not do enough to regulate the frac mining industry. Ryan Schuessler

A requirement for WISA membership is proof that a company is making a positive impact on nearby communities, and that members adhere to a set of best practices, Budinger said.

“I would hope that would be the case,” Budinger added when asked if the same could be said about the industry as a whole. WISA represents just four companies operating in the state. There are nearly 50 industrial sand companies operating in Wisconsin, according to data on the Department of Natural Resources website, ranging from local operations to energy conglomerates.

“One mine here and there wasn’t the end of the world,” said Schmitt, a Republican who made a point of distancing himself from environmentalists. “A good share of these people are right or center and don’t like these sand mines. It’s not a blue or red issue.”

He added: “The administration has to change. The Republican Party has to go back to what it was or the Democrats have to take over.”

Popple and other residents say the state isn’t doing enough to monitor the mines. Roberta Walls, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Industrial Sand Sector Specialist, declined to comment for this report. According to a presentation she provided in place of a comment, the state had only fully completed 68 compliance inspections out of the state’s 129 facilities as of June 2015.

“They don’t have enough people,” Popple said of the Department of Natural Resources, which has been routinely cut under Gov. Scott Walker’s administration. “They simply don’t have enough people to go around and oversee [the mines].”

While the state does not specifically monitor crystalline silica, the DNR does compile data on air quality in the region, measuring the number of airborne particles that are 10 micrometers in diameter — referred to as PM10. Data show that western Wisconsin’s PM10 levels tend to be below the federal safety level of 150 micrograms per cubic meter of air — sometimes peaking at 100. However, The World Health Organization standard for PM10 is 20, and PM10 levels near Wisconsin sand mines hover around 15 to 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

A 2015 study that looked at PM4 levels near four EOG Resources sand mines — a Texas-based company formerly known as Enron Oil and Gas — found normal air quality levels. The results, according to the DNR, showed that crystalline silica levels within PM4 concentrations were within expected background levels and in line with State of California measures, one of the few states that have a safety standard for crystalline silica.

Less monitored are the levels of PM2.5 — the smallest particles that can become airborne more easily and travel farther. Preliminary research from Crispin Pierce, a professor of environmental public health at the University of Wisconsin — Eau Claire, found PM2.5 levels sometimes exceeding the EPA guideline of 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Pierce’s initial study found PM2.5 levels ranging from 5.82 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 50.8, and is conducting further studies to provide more comprehensive results.

Pierce also pointed out that the air quality data released by the DNR largely comes from frac sand mining companies.

“The DNR so far has continued to shy away from doing their own monitoring,” he said. “The monitoring I’ve seen so far is inadequate. People aren’t looking at PM2.5, and they really should be — from unbiased sources.”

Pierce, a toxicologist by training, has started a third round of analysis using EPA-certified instruments to measure PM2.5. He said initial data continue to show PM2.5 levels are “of concern.”

Victoria Trinko — the resident who watched a sand mine move in across the road — said her symptoms decrease or disappear all together whenever she leaves the area. She also said that her daughter started experiencing similar symptoms as soon as she came to visit from Australia after Trinko first got sick.

“I think I’m the canary in the mine,” Trinko said, referencing her proximity to the mine. “I think they’re [other residents] all going to be affected. But I’m first.”