MIDDLETON, Wis. (AP) — Controversies over the fracking process may be inevitable, a former administrator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged recently, but Wisconsin can protect its place as the leading supplier of sand for the nation’s fracking boom as long as the state has strong regulations, maintains maximum transparency and responds quickly to neighbors’ concerns.

J. Winston Porter, an energy consultant and fracking proponent, held the No. 2 spot at the EPA under presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush from 1985 to 1989. He spoke at a business convention in Middleton last week, where he said that even if fracking controversies are inevitable, they can be minimized.