In Fayette County, Georgia there is concern over mountain-top removal at the Frasure Creek Open Fork No.2. Environmental protection groups, such as members of the Mountain Health and Heritage Association, protested outside the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) offices in Charleston on Tuesday.
The surface mine in question is owned by the Essar Group of India and the West Virginia Surface Mine Board was considering granting a permit for the Frasure Creek Open Fork No.2 which is located near the New River Gorge.
Environmentalists say that West Virginia, known as the ‘Mountain State’, would no longer remain a mountain state if mountain-top removal continued at the current rate, it would become more of an “almost level state”. Besides the aesthetic damage the more important concern is for drinking water contamination in the area.
The Page-Kincaid PSD Source Water Protection Area is majorly threatened and about 2,000 people could end up without water, as per the protestors. The two well sites would be contaminated by further blasting at the surface. The three dozen members of the environmental group felt that a lot of people were unaware of the potential problems.
Since the environmentalists feel that the state DEP is not taking notice of their concerns they are now planning a trip to Washington DC. They intend to urge the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt stricter standards when it comes to mountain-top mining.