Sun, 04/02/2023 - 09:42 am

The following letter endorsed by 45 businesses in Warren and Union that are opposed to proposed metallic mining activities in their towns has been submitted to the Select Boards in Union and Warren, according to Garth Hersey, owner of Franz Furniture, in Warren.

“The unification of both the local community as well as the businesses that support these communities is just another illustration of how unwelcome metallic mining is,” he said.

The letter follows:

As local business owners, we oppose Exiro Minerals’s metallic mineral exploration and the mining of metals in and around Warren and Union. Metal mining threatens our livelihoods and, more broadly, the vitality of the Towns’ economies.

Warren and Union have economies rooted in the attractiveness of the landscape and the health of the local environment. In contrast, metal mining has a track record of making the environment unattractive and contaminated.

Some of our local businesses need clean water, air, and soil for their very existence — look at Oyster River Winegrowers, Herbal Revolution, The Pour Farm, and farms of all sizes and types. Other businesses rely on the patronage of people who live here or visit here because of the beauty of the place and the recreational opportunities the water and land afford — Frantz Furniture, Viking Lumber, and St. George River Cafe are just a few businesses that rely on local customers. Economists will tell you that money flows over the long term into areas that preserve and develop livable communities around natural amenities.

Metal mining would be irreversibly devastating for our economy. Metal mining not only pollutes, it pollutes with toxins that stay in the water and soil for generations. Because of the area’s interconnected waterways and aquifer, contamination anywhere in the area will end up affecting all areas. Contamination can happen years and years after a mine shuts down, and contamination lasts for generations.

We can’t conduct business here if the natural resources are contaminated or if there is even the public perception that the natural resources are contaminated or could be contaminated in the future. With a mine here, Warren and Union would have no businesses that depend on clean water, air, and soil. If residents and visitors stay away from the area, few of the existing local businesses that cater to them will survive. Metal mining undercuts our economic base and shuts the door to our local economy returning any time soon – an economy based on the beautiful, everlasting natural resources of Warren and Union!

Fred and Jan MacDonald
Barley Joe’s, Warren

James Barnes
Barnes Custom Window Treatment, Warren

Alex Martins
Blue Water Fabrications, Inc., Warren

Andrea and Allan Smith
Brae Maple Farm, Union

Kazimier Buozys
Buozys Custom, Union

Chris Heretakis
Common House of Pizza, Union

Tom Bresnahan
Country Way Carpentry, Warren

Tom and Yvonne Pitzi
David Robbins Homestead B&B, Union

Jim Doble
Elemental Design, Union

Garth Hersey
Frantz Furniture, Warren