Aroostook mining dangers
To the editor:
When the governor was in Presque Isle last week for a budget town hall, I had an exchange with him, where he claimed that “every single fracking, uh, operation in the country does not pollute.”
With a governor who is this ignorant about environmental damage caused by fracking, how can we trust his Department of Environmental Protection to create mining regulations that would protect the environment from the inevitable damage that an open-pit mine in Aroostook will cause?
We can’t. The DEP was tasked with writing new mining rules, and last year they presented them to the Legislature. Forty-eight people traveled to Augusta to testify against the DEP’s very weak mining rules that would not protect the environment and Aroostook’s thriving tourism industry. Only four people testified in favor of the weak rules. The Legislature correctly rejected them.
The DEP’s reaction was to submit the exact same rules again this year. They did not even correct grammatical errors. This time, 51 people traveled to Augusta to oppose, and only three people, all industry consultants, testified in favor. Ground rules for testifying prohibited mention of Bald Mountain or Irving.
Discussion about mining Bald Mountain must be honest. It is widely understood that the DEP’s rules will not protect the environment. An honest discussion would be about whether we are willing to sacrifice the industries that currently provide sustainable employment opportunities to Aroostook citizens and are dependent on a healthy environment so that Irving, a foreign corporation, can enjoy more profit. Let your legislators know.
Shelly Mountain
Mapleton
