University of Virginia Library

N.Y. Firm Proposes
Green Springs Mine

Residents Vehemently Protest
Area's 'Continued Exploitation'

By LIBBY WITHERS

CD/Saxon Holt

Green Springs: First A Prison Site, Now A Strip Mine?

A New York-based firm
has proposed strip mining of
the northern edge of the
Green Springs section of
Louisa County, the Louisa
County Board of Supervisors
announced Tuesday. Green
Springs has been the center of
recent controversy over a
proposed state penal
institution.

W.R. Grace and Co. plans to
strip mine for vermiculite, an
insulation and packing
material, if mineral rights to
the land can be acquired or
bought, R. Earl Ogg, Board of
Supervisors chairman said. Mr.
Ogg is also a Green Springs
resident.

The proposed mining area
includes several tracts of land
off State Route 22, east of
Boswell's Tavern, parallel to
the South Anna River.

The proposed site is
believed to be owned by three
large property owners who
have neither agreed to sell nor
to lease mineral rights to the
company.

Zoning Changes Necessary

In addition, zoning changes
in the section would be
necessary to permit mining.
The land is presently zoned for
agricultural use, and a
strip-mining operation would
require industrial use
classification.

According to county
administrator Dean P. Agee,
the county has not yet received
a request for this zoning
change. The change would have
to be approved by the Board of
Supervisors before any work
could begin.

Grace and Co. has
been told that strict
compliance with these laws is
required, and has assured
county officials of obedience
to these laws.

Vermiculite Found

Mr. Agee said the company
has been test drilling in the
Green Springs area for several
years, and that vermiculite has
been found "just about
everywhere they have drilled."
He said that one other firm
besides Grace and Co. is
seeking mineral rights to this
land. He did not identify the
firm.

Spokesmen for the Green
Springs Association, an
organization which opposes the
location of a prison in this
historic area, said the
association will fight the
proposal to strip mine the area.

Mr. Agee commented that
this operation could pose a
larger threat to the Green
Springs area than the prison
facility proposal.

The Green Springs
Association has been fighting
the state for over two years on
proposals for a nuclear power
plant, a state prison, and now a
strip-mining operation.

The Association won a
federal district court order
requiring the federal
government to conduct a study
of the environmental impact of
the site prior to approving its
share of funding.

Interior Criticizes Study

A draft of the study by the
U.S. Justice Department
concluded that the prison
would not prove detrimental to
the area. However, last week
the U.S. Department of the
Interior criticized this study,
saying that Green Springs is of
unusual and cultural
importance to the nation.

"It (the environmental
study) fails to analyze the
project impact upon the
continuity of the historical
community... placing a
non-historic facility near the
focal point of the basin
landscape would involve
significant impact upon the
area's visual and cultural
integrity," the Interior report
said.

Mrs. Hiram B. Ely, a
member of the association said,
"We feel that the continued
exploitation of the Green
Springs area has got to stop. Is
there no limit to what the
supervisors will consider
allowing in this county?"

Mrs. Ely emphasized that
"strip-mining in Green Springs
is like strip-mining in
Williamsburg."