Who’s telling fairy tales?

To the editor:

Mat-Su Business Alliance recently sent out a propaganda “fact sheet” concerning Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.’s proposed Wishbone Hill Coal Mine. These postcards attempt to portray the concerns that honest neighbors have brought forth as “fables, fantasies and fairy tales.”

The adjacent neighborhoods have more than 100 families living within 1 mile of the coal mine, and there are several developing coal mines that will affect all who live in the Mat-Su. We are not anti-mining activists. We are real families and small business owners who face losing their homes, businesses and quality of life because of the Matanuska Valley coal mines.

Websters’ Dictionary defines “neighborhood” as “persons living near one another in a near locality.”

Sutton, including Sutton’s Seventeen Mile Lake neighborhood and Buffalo-Soapstone are recognized communities. They are clearly “neighborhoods.” They surround the proposed mine.

Mat-Su Valley Coal Field actually extends from Lake Louise to Petersville, including under Palmer, part of Wasilla, Big Lake and Houston. Is the Business Alliance actually proposing that all these areas are open for mining? If this can happen in our neighborhood, it could happen in yours.

That same dictionary defines “discount” as “a reduction made from the gross amount or value of something.”

Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union and Wells Fargo Bank certainly did have policies to reject loans near the proposed coal mine. A MVFCU loan officer personally told me that loans would not be approved if a property was located within 1 mile of the proposed Wishbone Hill Coal Mine site. Due to political pressure, they have since recanted their no-loan zone. However, MVFCU CEO Al Strawn on an April 23 KTUU stated, “If it’s very close to the proposed development [referring to the Wishbone Hill coal mine] then we may have to discount the collateral value.”

A mile is 5,280 feet, and a simple Internet search shows that no one lives less than at least 17,000 feet (more than 3 miles) from Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.’s Healy mine. Certainly no one lives within 2 miles from the operating mine.

The dictionary also defines “truth” as “the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality.”

I am insulted that the greedy Business Alliance would call our honest concerns “myths” and “tall tales.” Who is really telling the fairy tales?

Andrea Grohall

Palmer