Letter to the Editor: Pozzolan mine will harm nature

I write in opposition to Drake Cement’s proposed mine on the eastern slope of Bill Williams mountain. I have often hiked the Benham trail and enjoyed the quiet walk along a drainage where I have seen deer, turkeys, numerous birds and a fox.

It was shocking to see Drake Cement’s four mining claims adjacent to the trail. The proposed mine would obliterate access to the trail as well as causing irreparable harm to the habitat, and dust and noise for the surrounding human residents.

The Forest Service routinely imposes fire restrictions and limits all access to the Bill Williams watershed evidencing the need to protect the fragile nature of the forest as well as to limit the risk of a catastrophic flood in the city of Williams should there be a fire on the mountain.

Let’s not risk the beauty of our forest environment and the safety of our town for the profits of a foreign owned company.

~Elizabeth Anne Upham

Williams