20211126_M-R_Buck

From: Flint Ridae
To: NCMiningProgram
Subject: [External] Piedmont Lithium
Date: Friday, November 26, 2021 8:03:27 PM
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We are Michael & Rebecca Buck @ Flint Ridge Ranch at 2154 Mauney Road Bessemer
City, NC 28016.
We wrote and asked for a public hearing and thank you for the opportunity to hear
more from our neighbors and the State.
We were not able to leave a message at the number provided as the number had no
message and was forwarded to a different number. Very confusing.
Also, we could not participate in the online meeting for whatever technical reasons and
hope you would consider an additional neighborhood meeting for people unable to travel
or use the Internet.
We are within 1 mile of the mining operations and already have had our lives disrupted
and plans for our future ruined by this mining project. We are not on any maps nor of
concern for this company.
This land has many deep cuts and cracks and the stream to the north and east of us feed
into the Beaver Creek and Catawba River system.
We talked with nearly every landowner on Mauney Road, north of Dallas Cherryville
Hwy to the project area and all are opposed. Many are displaying signs of support of our
watchdog group and were unaware of any of the upcoming meetings and ability to voice
an opinion.
We moved here 10 years ago, relocating our ranch from Ohio after looking at over 200
properties, investing in improvements and laying the groundwork for our near future
retirement. We have been planning to expand our country retreat and blueberry farm,
highlighting our rare draft horses. This mining project most likely will take our water
from 2 wells, supplying clean, sweet unpolluted water to us and our livestock. We
already have had to go outside the area for hay. We had nurtured a relationship with a
farmer on the corner of Hastings Rd(ground zero) growing a special blend for my herd
of breeding mares. We got one year harvest and then the mine came.
We are opposed and fearing for the future as we witness this company tear our
neighborhood apart and is logging and blasting without regard for habitat. A packs of
Coyote have already moved into our valley, menacing our neighbors and our livestock in
the middle of the day! This is not normal. There are beaver in the valley just south of us
and logging happened without any consideration for this rare habitat.
We attended both meetings last week. One on Monday, Nov 15 and Thursday, Nov 18.
We were not aware you had a third meeting on Tuesday, as the facilitator of the meeting
the 18th was referring to a meeting on Tuesday. Where was this meeting?
We were not able to comment at WebEx meeting and dropped the session twice. This
area is rural and high speed Internet unavailable. We need more public hearings that
allow the underserved and elderly to attend.
We hope you will consider the devastation of such an operation.
Thank you
Rebecca and Michael Buck