I am a Virginia resident who lives in near the James River, just across the Buckingham County line. I use the James River for recreation and fishing. My drinking water comes from a well, and I am deeply concerned about my groundwater being so close to a proposed gold mine. Mining's impacts on water quality are well documented, but both state and federal laws have done a poor job of protecting impacted communities. I am opposed to any project that could have an adverse health impact on Virginia residents, and we should make sure we are carefully analyzing any impacts from gold mining as well as making sure we have the strictest possible regulations on any proposed mining activity before even considering a project like this for permits. Furthermore, Buckingham County has 2 census tracts that are defined as disadvantaged by the Justice40 criteria, so siting this mine there would have serious environmental justice concerns:
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