SSS, LLC: "Wasn't Me..."

or, "Who Let the Polyacrylamide Potentially Leach Into the Groundwater? (Who, who, who?)"

The good word out of Texas is everything's a-ok. Proceeding as planned. Somebody else dumped the chemically treated water into an unlined pond. Superior Silica Sands, Limited Liability Corporation put out a statement about their Trempealeau County mine and what they believe might have happened:

Southlake, Texas - On Tuesday, Oct. 8, Superior Silica Sands LLC (“SSS”) announced that it believes that a stop work order from the Trempealeau County, Wisconsin Department of Land Management with respect to SSS's future Independence dry plant facility was issued by the county in error. SSS engaged in grading and excavating activities in the area with the intent to construct a dry plant to begin operations in 2015.

The reported violations related to mining activities are attributable to a different operator who is currently engaged in frac sand mining in the area. SSS's Independence frac sand mining facility is not engaged in any mining activities at this time. The error in Trempealeau County's stop work order should not impact the current production process for SSS, and SSS is working with Trempealeau County to ensure the correct parties are subject to the stop work order.

SSS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerge Energy Services LP (“EMES”). Rick Shearer, President of SSS and Chief Executive Officer of EMES, commented:

“While we are disappointed with the reports today that reflect the misunderstanding with the Trempealeau County Department of Land Management, Emerge Energy is still executing our growth plan. Our Thompson Hills mine and wet plant began operations last month and is already processing wet sand for our winter stockpile so that we can continue to supply our customers.

Our dry plant at Arland, Wisconsin remains on schedule to start production this quarter. Further, we remain hopeful that our dry plant at Independence will start operations as early as the first or second quarter of 2015.

Industry fundamentals remain strong, and we have been able to sign additional multi-year contracts since our last update in August. We now have 8.2 million tons under contract annually, with a weighted average remaining contract life of 4.2 years, which puts us well ahead of our contracting goals.

We look forward to updating the investment community more in the coming weeks when we release our earnings.

"Come On, Come On...
Listen to the Money Talk..."
~ ACDC, naturally.