Editor,

This letter is in response to mountain top removal at Hobet Mining. We have more than 75 men working at our mine. We have 401 men and women working on different shifts in different areas. When we get a new permit we bring in a timber crew who cut trees then put in drainage systems to take care of the water. Then we remove the rock. Wildlife including deer, black bears, and ducks has been seen flourishing in reclaimed areas.

The money generated from Hobet Mining is 47 million dollars in salaries, 14 million dollars in state and local taxes, and 79 million dollars in purchases per year. We also employ 65 contract vendors. The tax dollars go toward putting water lines in schools. If one coal mine generates this kind of money - what will 10 mines generate?

We need wind mills on our job. You could put wind mills everywhere. We need electric cars, clean coal and nuclear power to get us away from foreign oil.

I would like anyone to come and see the reclaimed area at Gilbert and see one of the most beautiful golf courses in the state. The regional jail at Holden was built on strip land and the wood factory at Holden was built on reclaimed land. We will have a modern high school built on The-King Coal Highway.

We need jobs ... We need industries to come West Virginia ... We need land for development for the future of our children.

Sincerely,

William H. Dempsey

Delbarton