Text of letter sent by The Reverend James D. Gafford of Orange County
Branch of the NAACP:
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                         Wednesday, January 2, 2002

   Ms. Deborah S. Kendall
   Planning Director & Zoning Administrator
   Orange Co. Department of Planning & Zoning
   112 West Main Street
   P. O. Box 111
   Orange, VA 22960

   Dear Ms. Kendall:

   The  Orange  County  Branch of the NAACP is appalled at the thought of
   the  Planning  and  Zoning  Commission  allowing  Strip-mining for any
   reason  in  a  residential and historical district. Minorities in this
   county  as  well  as across this nation suffer greatly from leadership
   that  seem  to  have  no  respect  for  their property or the interest
   concerning  them.  History  continues  to  repeat  itself  when  it is
   forgotten.  Several  decades  ago  the  construction  of route fifteen
   through  the  heart  of  the town of Orange and the minority community
   disrupted the economic stability of the whole community. The four-lane
   highway drove many businesses and citizens from the area. Rumor of the
   plan  to  bring route 20 through Bowler Lane and Prospect Heights area
   in  the  future  is  another  attempt to uproot the minority community
   again.  The Strip-mining may be good for an Austrian conglomerate that
   does  not live in the county but will not be good for the residents in
   Barboursville.  Even  the best plans to eliminate hazzard do not begin
   to   cover  the  unseen  troubles  and  long-term  effects.  How  many
   minorities from the area will be employed in management with equal pay
   for   equal  work?  Will  all  contractors  and  sub-contractors  have
   equitable  access to the available bids? Who is expected to profit the
   most  after the 138 acres have been deserted and left as wasteland and
   the citizens displaced? Who will bear the greatest cost of maintaining
   the roadways used to move several million tons of dirt annually to the
   General  Shale Company in Somerset? How much is the company willing to
   reinvest  in  the  county before it moves on to another place where it
   will repeat the cycle all over again?

   This  branch  of the NAACP believes the Planning and Zoning Commission
   will  violate  the  civil  rights of the citizens in Barboursville and
   Somerset by granting the General Shale Company permission to level the
   hill  to fifty (50) feet craters and take away the land the minorities
   own.  Land  ownership  as  we  all  know  is a great economic base for
   prosperity  anywhere in this country. Depriving people of the economic
   privileges  they have acquired and maintained for eight generations or
   more  is not right. Unleveled playing fields are costly and never fair
   for the "underdog."

   Founded  in  1909,  the  NAACP  is  the  nation's  oldest, largest and
   non-partisan  civil  rights  organization.  Its  half  million members
   throughout  the  United States and the world are premier advocates for
   civil  rights  in the local communities, conducting voter mobilization
   and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sector.

   Sincerely,

   The Reverend James D. Gafford, President