as many of you may be aware, on August 30th Piedmont Lithium submitted a mining permit application, as we expected. The NC Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) issues mining permits within the state and the process leads the NC DEQ to either 1) approve the permit, 2) deny the permit, or 3) require Piedmont Lithium to provide more detailed information relevant to specific areas of concern. We the citizens, along with Gaston County officials (Commissioners, Planning staff, etc.) have the ability to make requests to influence this process. We need you, your spouses, your family members, Church members, and your friends to send emails, letters and make phone calls letting the NC DEQ know that we demand they hold a local information session in Gaston County with us, the citizens, to explain the application process. As part of the application, feedback will be provided by state & federal agencies such as The Division of Water, NC Wildlife Resource Commission, Division of Parks, Soil and Water Conservation, US Fish & Wildlife and many others, including you the citizens of Gaston County.  If we do not get involved, this will be a short process; if you take the time to get educated on the local impacts to water and our land that we will face, it can draw out this process for years, possibly rendering the mining permit useless as technologies change.  We continue to get conflicting answers by Piedmont Lithium whether their mine process will discharge water into Beaverdam Creek, at what levels, why existing springs, wells and creeks do not exist on their proposed mine plan maps, and how they intend to deal with holding ponds on site to control runoff. 

As directed by The Mining Act of 1971’s Section 74-50, the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources has opened a 30-day public comment period through Sept. 30, 2021. Thus, we need each of you at your earliest (but certainly before the Sept 30th deadline) to request a local public hearing on the Piedmont Lithium Carolinas project. Comments and requests should focus on local concerns such as your drinking wells, ponds, streams, natural springs, water quality & water flow, wildlife concerns, air quality, dust, noise, blasting, vibration, and how you will be impacted today and for 20+ years.  Your comments can be submitted via:

·  Email: to ncminingprogram@ncdenr.gov with the subject line               “Piedmont Lithium Carolinas”

·  Phone: leave a voicemail at 919-707-9220

·  Mail:  Mr. David Miller - State Mining Engineer                                                       Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources                                       Department of      Environmental Quality
              1612 Mail Service Center
               Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1612

Please take the time to review the Piedmont Lithium mining application and at:  https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/EnergyMineralLandResources/Browse.aspx?dbid=0&startid=3684

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