20211118_L-Carpenter

From: Libby Carpenter
To: NCMininaProaram; Kastrinsky. Josh
Subject: [External] Piedmont Lithium
Date: Thursday, November 18, 2021 1:20:34 PM
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Josh, I want to thank you and the others from the NC DEQ for
coming to Gaston County on Monday evening. I am sending my
entire comments because two minutes were not enough and I picked
and chose the emotional part and ad libbed.
The facts I planned to read should be much more important to you!
I have several facts to add to my talk:
We know for certain that our two wells are not on PL's maps in their
mining application. Our neighbor, Warren Snowden,has proof of
this. His well and our close neighbor David Young's are also
missing. Josh, I overheard you tell Warren to provide names for
others not on the map. How can he find this information? He works
full time and more; doesn't have time I'm sure.We believe this should
be your responsibility, not ours.
Actually the maps are too hard for the average layman to read-- as
one who spoke Monday night referred to --the entire application not
complete!!
Why not get lithium from brine in the western US.? We have read
that there is enough in the Mohave Desert, particularly in California
and Nevada. So why mess up our beautiful, filled with wildlife, and
clean water ---community and county????
Monday Talk:
I am Libby Carpenter, an 80 year old Gaston County native and
retired teacher. We live on the rim of their proposed open pit mine at
426 Aderholdt Rd. Piedmont Lithium has caused tremendous
ANXIETY ....they have pitted neighbor against neighbor and torn
families apart. An enemy has come into our beautiful neighborhood

uninvited and caused strife and the anxiety of not knowing what will
happen and when? Can you imagine living with this ---we can't
make improvements to our property not knowing.
My neighbor called to warn me about 4 years ago. She asked, Have
you been getting calls wanting to buy your property? I said yes, we
had some calls. She said Piedmont Lithium is going to mine our
property. My response? I don't believe it. So I did some research:
The proposed Piedmont Lithium mine will be one of the largest open
pit mines in the U.S., covering at least 2,600 acres.
1) Open pit mines are one of the most harmful ways to remove
mineral resources. They permanently scar the landscape and
can cause serious pollution. Many open pit mines become
toxic superfund sites once they are closed. Serious
contamination can occur as infrastructure that contains toxic
mine waste ages and fails.
2) Open pit mines can also discourage other forms of
economic development. Many industries prefer to avoid areas
near significant open pit mines.
3) Piedmont Lithium's proposed site sits on several creeks
which flow into the Catawba River. A failure of mine waste
containment would contaminate waterways that provide tap
water for towns like Belmont and Dallas.
4) Open pit mining of Lithium is the way of the past and
should have no place in our future. Lithium is an abundant
mineral and most of it is found in brine deposits. New
technology has been developed that allows for the rapid
extraction of lithium from brine without using much water or
land. This technology is being invested in by various
companies including Albemarle, Neolithium, and Standard
Lithium.
5) Piedmont Lithium is far from having their way. They have
no permits and the area has not been rezoned for mining. They
have yet to put a shovel in the ground. Much of the
information on their website, along with their mining
application is incomplete as well. They do not even have all of
the drinking water wells in our area on the mining application
map.

They may seem like a powerful company, but they are a
paper tiger.
Dear Mining Commission, I ask you to live
up to your mission statement, ""To promote,
protect and conserve the environment,
health and natural resources of NC. and its
citizens through responsible stewardship
and excellence in public service." I ask you,
Please Say yes to life and no to mining.
Thank you for listening,
Elizabeth "Libby" Carpenter and Benjamin H. Carpenter
426 Aderholdt Rd.
Lincolnton, NC 28092
704-435-2932 (H)
704-868-6572 (C)