Mine would destroy neighborhood

To the editor:

The Usibelli family is bent on destroying the integrity of our neighborhood with an open-pit coal mine. This mine, which would be just across Moose Creek from Buffalo Mine Road, would be as close as 1/4-mile to the nearest residents — and directly upwind. Placing an open-pit coal mine so close to where people live is inappropriate and extremely inconsiderate.

Pursuing this mine demonstrates that the Usibelli family would rather chase profits at the expense of the residents who live next door. The residents who live next to this proposed 24-hour open-pit mine will be subjected to the noise from blasting and machinery, coal dust, pollution from equipment and trucks, and the loss of recreational opportunities such as snowmachining, hiking, hunting and fishing.

Everyone in the Valley lives in “coal country,” but placing a mine adjacent to where people live is inappropriate. When this mine was permitted — over two decades ago — few people lived in this area. Since then, the state has encouraged settlement in this area. The state has paved the road and provided grants to bring in power.

Usibelli cannot turn back the clock; people live here now. Usibelli’s other operation, its well-known mine in Healy, is miles out of town. The people who live adjacent to this present scheme in the Mat-Su deserve the same consideration.

Pete Praetorius

Palmer