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2 <br />hi addition to all this, we have the problem of air pollution from the blasting <br />and the trucks driving up and down our roads. The traffic and damage to our roads <br />will be worse than most people expect. When the railroad hauled the gypsum away, <br />there was no extra traffic on Highway 50 to Canon City, and the trucks were small. <br />Without the railroad to haul all that gypsum, larger trucks will no doubt be needed, <br />probably eighteen-wheel trucks, and the damage to the main highway will be <br />obvious very soon. Traffic along that canyon road will become even more congested <br />and dangerous. Worst of all will be the damage to County Road 6 and/or 45. At <br />Coaldale we waited many years just to get a short stretch of 45 paved with a thin layer <br />of asphalt, and when that's gone, we won't get any more. Also anyone who drives <br />from Highway 50 up County Road 6 just to the Coaldale Cemetery can see the poor <br />condition of that road. The big trucks that haul the gypsum will destroy what little <br />asphalt we have on our roads and bring back the terrible dust problem. <br />I remember the noise from the blasting and from the trucks. The dust settles <br />everywhere, and I had no way to keep it from filtering into my house. My mother <br />had a heazt_condition-and suffered from this-dust until the mine was shut down. We <br />have many older people in this community, and some of them have serious conditions <br />that will be made worse by the return of extremely poor air quality. <br />One of the problems most difficult for us to deal with is the cannibalization of <br />our small, peaceful community by a larger community many miles away that couldn't <br />caze less about what happens to us here, and by a corporation whose greed could soon <br />destroy our way of life. The argument is made that Holcim will create jobs. But for <br />whom? And at whose expense? People around here already have jobs or know where <br />to find them. The few who may not have jobs are no reason to destroy a whole <br />community and hurt the rest of us. Besides, the jobs will probably be taken by people <br />in Florence and Canon City, so "cannibalization" describes exactly what will happen <br />to us. <br />All of this is bad enough to make reasonable people see that this mine shouldn't <br />be allowed to operate, but there's more, and it gets even worse. The problem of <br />pollution alone is too much for one letter. We're aware of the kinds and magnitude of <br />pollution involved in this operation and of the danger to our personal health and <br />environment for at least the next thirty years. <br />In Coaldale we have nothing to gain by having this mine reopen and <br />everything to lose. We're asked to allow our beautiful little valley to be turned into a <br />polluted, dusty mining area hazazdous to our health and devastating to resale value of <br />our property. It's easy to understand the anger that people here feel. What's <br />planned for us is a nightmare, and we're asking that it be stopped at once. <br />Thank you for any help you can give us. <br />Sincerely, <br />~~ <br />Syl a Gilman <br />