Coal hearing draws standing-room-only crowd

SUTTON — A crowd larger than the elementary school’s parking lot could hold showed up Tuesday to express opinions both for and against opening a coal mine in the Buffalo Mine Road area.

The standing-room-only meeting drew 200 or more people to Sutton Elementary School and was the final opportunity for residents to weigh in with the state’s Department of Natural Resources on Usibelli Coal Mine’s application to renew its mining permit for the Wishbone Hill project between Palmer and Sutton. The mine has been the subject of spirited debates for months with very strong opinions.

Tuesday was no different.

“I love the view that I have of Wishbone Hill,” Gene Blydenburgh testified. “I am not in favor of Usibelli Coal Mine blowing up my hill.”

Other anti-coal attendees, some wearing a variety of shirts sporting slogans opposing the mine, others carrying signs with similar slogans, brought up concerns about plummeting property values and risks to public health.

“I’m against building coal mines next to a residential neighborhood,” said Dr. Gary Benedetti. “I’m not against building coal mines.”

Reacting to statements that Usibelli’s mine in Healy has operated without destroying the surrounding community or environment, some pointed out that Healy isn’t Sutton and that Sutton is famous for its strong winds — winds that can carry coal dust.

Jamey Duhamel testified that the promise of jobs is not enticing to her.

“We moved here for the slow-paced atmosphere of a bedroom community,” she said, before noting that it’s not a fair comparison to stack the proposed mine against former Valley mines. “All mining operations in the Mat-Su Valley have been small-scale and underground.”

Patricia Wade, a member of the Chickaloon Tribe, said that the land in question has long been sacred to her people.

“You might not understand when we say that land is our sanctuary,” she said. “We love that land. Please help us protect it.”

But pro-coal residents were there as well. Most said they are eager for the jobs the mine might bring and doubt claims that coal dust or mining waste is hazardous.

Roger Purcell, a Houston resident and former mayor of that town, testified that coal built a lot of communities around the Valley, including Houston.

“People every day drive by the old mine and they don’t even know it’s there,” Purcell said.

Nancy Rowland, another Valley resident, testified that she and her husband were married in Palmer but made their first home around the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy.

“We enjoyed living in the midst of mining activities the years we were there,” she said.

Eileen Haines, who said she lives a few miles from the mine but is upwind, offered to trade her three-bedroom house for a similar home downwind of the mine, especially one by the slurry ponds residents were concerned about. Haines said the slurry ponds she’s seen have been beautiful lakes she’d love to live on. She said she has faith in the state’s permitting process.

“I believe these people will hold Usibelli to the line,” she said, indicating the DNR representatives who there taking testimony.

Pio Cottini, who lives on Palmer-Fishhook Road, noted that as a kid his family heated their home with coal. He helped haul it home from the mine.

“We have a lot of unemployed people here, hardworking men and women,” he said. “I am not afraid of coal dust.”

Jay Van Diest, a real estate agent and Lazy Mountain resident, threw water on claims that the mine would ruin property values, saying that Sutton hasn’t been a hot spot for Realtors in the recent past, but has picked up a little in the past year.

“I liked it in the ’80s when everyone left,” he said, referencing the famous oil crash that cleared out the state. “There were no lines on the road, no lines at the grocery store. But that’s not how progress is made.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.