FAYETTEVILLE — Approximately 40 concerned Fayetteville residents packed the Cathedral Café Monday evening to learn about new and expanding surface mines in central Fayette County in the New River watershed.

Frasure Creek Mining LLC, a West Virginia-based operation owned by a company based in India, has applied for four new mine permits, including five valley fill permits, in the Loop Creek and New River areas.

Already, Frasure Creek’s operations have impacted communities along U.S. 60, according to Stephanie Tyree of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, who helped organize the meeting.

“People’s property has been harmed from the blasting, people have been flooded by the mining, and so there’s an issue of safety and impact on property,” she said. “But also there’s a very real concern about the impact of water quality and the safety of the drinking water in the area.”

Wellheads for the Page-Kincaid Public Service District are located less than 2 miles from the boundary of Frasure Creek’s Glenco Hollow Surface Mine, she said.

On a large screen, Tyree projected a map of Frasure Creek’s existing and proposed mines and valley fills in Fayette County.

Tyree pointed out how some proposed operations are as close as 5 miles from Fayetteville. Beards Fork and Kincaid lie at the center of proposed operations, said Tyree, and Frasure Creek is prospecting near Kanawha Falls and Beckwith.

“We hear blasting most afternoons,” said Beckwith resident Sally Hurst. “We feel like we have to pay attention to it; it’s getting very close.”

Hurst described Monday’s high turnout as a sign of the Fayette residents’ commitment to continuing to “pay attention.”

“We live in a community where people really do care, and we have a lot to protect,” she said. “I feel like we’re all neighbors here in Fayette County.”

Residents at the meeting expressed concerns about the future of the New River.

“The Gauley and the New rivers are the most important economic and aesthetic resources that this county has. Tourism is our economic engine,” said Katheryne Hoffman, president of the Ansted Historic Preservation Council, who has fought mining in the Gauley River area for two decades.

Both are national rivers, she said. “They’re supposed to be protected.”

Tyree also emphasized issues with Frasure Creek’s violations. According to reports from The Associated Press, large boulders and flyrock smashed through two homes in Floyd County, Ky., in 2009.

For accusations of over 20,000 water discharge violations and fraud for falsifying reports, Frasure Creek and another mining company were sued by four environmental groups in 2010. According to the Daily Independent of Ashland, Ky., the Energy and Environment Cabinet investigated, finding 2,700 violations but terming them “transcription errors.” A settlement levied fines of $310,000 and $350,000. 

“For me, that’s a big red flag,” said Tyree, adding that she aims to prevent the story from repeating itself in Fayette County.

Tyree also emphasized that Frasure Creek is owned by Indian company Essar, which has stated it plans to ship metallurgical coal overseas to India.

“I think we need to make some noise,” said Hurst. “I want to make the effort to urge our West Virginia leaders and Obama to keep the regulations in place that we need to protect our families and communities here in West Virginia.”

There will be another informational meeting to address concerns about local mining at 6 p.m. Friday at the Southern Appalachian Labor School in the Beards Fork Community Center. For more information, call 304-779-2280 /2772 or e-mail sals @citynet.net.

A spokeswoman for Frasure Creek Mining declined comment.