Date: Wed, 4 Jun 97 17:05:15 -0700
From: newkirk <newkirk@olympus.net>
Subject: FWD: mining abuses in Texas
To: "wall" <wall-list@igc.apc.org>
This message was posted to the alt.earth-first newsgroup. Thought I'd
post it here - maybe someone here can be of some help to this woman?
Kirk Johnson
---------------------------
We are living in a very rural and beautiful area of Texas on the Brazos
River near Granbury and Glen Rose. We are now concerned about our
survival and drinking water. Some of us are retired and have invested
what little we had in our present very modest homes - this is definitely
not the high rent district but is our home and most of us cannot afford
to move anywhere.
We are presently in a battle with a Canadian gravel pit company on the
proposed pumpage of groundwater from the second Trinity aquifer below
our homes - our only water source as river water is salty and cannot be
filtered or treated for drinking water. We are worried that the already
dropping levels of the aquifer will cause all our drinking water wells
to go dry.
Where might we find some information on this aquifer, on groundwater
rights in general, and on our rights as life-long Texans to stop these
Canadians from running us out of our homes?
We've already starting contacting our state and federal representatives
and agencies for information. But, everyone in those agencies are just
passing us and our problem on to someone else.
There are two birds that are on the endangered species list which live
in this area and the company, now digging sand prior to reaching the
gravel, has already destroyed many Indian relics, artifacts, and
possibly some dinosaur remains which are quite prevalent in the Glen
Rose area. In fact one of the men manning the bulldozers has bragged
openly about this destruction. We have been told by persons in
government agencies that no one really cares about that stuff anymore
and that court cases, injunctions, etc. are no longer working on those
subjects to stop the progress of large companies wanting the resources.
Also the land has been in peanut farming for over 20 years and heavily
fertilized with the latest state of the art fertilizers each year. We
are now about to breathe those fertilizers stirred into our air by the
digging process.
We are willing to just try to live with the destruction if there is no
way possible to halt or delay this "big money wins" project in our
community but - we do have to have our drinking water - and there should
be some way to save at least that one resource!
Thank you for any advice, referrals, or downright help you can give us!
Sincerely,
Joyce l. Murphy
Save Mitchell Bend
Box 15069
Granbury, TX 76048
jmurphy@onramp.net
- - - -
That wildlife is merely something to shoot at or to look at is the
grossest of fallacies. -Aldo Leopold