Piedmont Lithium faces questions, criticism at latest meeting with county

Piedmont Lithium representatives faced a hostile crowd and critical political leaders at a meeting with the Gaston County Board of Commissioners Tuesday evening.

The meeting was the first in about two years with Piedmont Lithium, which wants to place a lithium mine and a processing plant in northwestern Gaston County.

The mine

"I believe that Piedmont Lithium is a different company than the one that appeared before you in 2021, and a different company than maybe many of you have met in the years prior," company spokesperson Erin Sanders told the board.

Sanders and Monique Parker, the senior vice president of safety, environment and health for Piedmont Lithium, presented the company's updated plan: Piedmont Lithium, which still has not received the state permit required to mine in Gaston County, hopes to construct the mine in 2025, with production beginning in 2027. The proposed project would nearly double the U.S. production of battery grade lithium, making Piedmont Lithium one of the key producers of battery grade lithium in the United States.

While the lithium hydroxide facility would have a 30-year life span, the mine itself would be active for a little more than 11 years, they said.

Sanders and Parker went on to answer questions about water quality, air quality, blasting, the potential impact on nearby houses, and more. They also came with reassurances: Piedmont Lithium plans to invest more than $1.2 billion in the project, and the construction would create 200 new jobs. Once the mine is operational, Piedmont Lithium expects to employ more than 400 people to work at it, at annual compensation averaging $82,000, and the company expects the mine to create a ripple effect in the community, generating as many as 1,000 jobs, Sanders said.

The company expects to generate $45 million in fiscal revenue to Gaston County in the first five years, with a total economic impact of $4 billion in that same timeframe, Sanders said.

In addition, the company plans to financially help property owners if they are unable to sell their homes because of the mine.

"We will assist financially, and that's a commitment we're willing to make," Sanders said.

The company also plans to make an annual payment to Gaston County to support the wellbeing of the community.

"All the details of these commitments will be determined as we move forward with the community development agreements," Sanders said.

The environment

Parker addressed concerns about the environmental impacts of the mine.

She said that the mine will not "materially change" the composition of the groundwater, that there will be no discharge to streams and waterways from the processing of the lithium, and Piedmont Lithium does not expect that area wells will be contaminated. She also said there will be "no widespread drying up of wells," but that if a well does run dry, Piedmont Lithium would provide the property owner with water.

Parker said there will be no change to air quality in the area of the mine, and that the blasts from the mine will last just seconds. She said that those 2,000 feet from the blast may feel a slight wind, but that impact will diminish the further away people get from the mine. The company intends to blast no more than twice a day.

She also said that property values in the area are not expected to decrease, but to increase.

Many in the room laughed in response.

"We don't want you here," a man said, leaving the meeting.

Questions and concerns

Despite Sanders' reassurances, county commissioners had a lot of questions for Piedmont Lithium.

Commissioner Allen Fraley in particular asked about the water used by the mine -- where it goes, how it's treated, and how it's discharged. He also asked whether floods could overwhelm the design plan. He also asked how many wells are within a mile of the proposed mine, a question Sanders and Parker couldn't answer, and he criticized Sanders and Parker for using language that didn't feel definite.

"We've gotta have better answers than that," he said.

Commission Chairman Chad Brown criticized Piedmont Lithium for the fact that CEO Keith Phillips did not attend the meeting.

"Look at all these people out here in this crowd," he said, referring to the dozens of people in the audience. "Your CEO refused to come tonight. He knew about this meeting months in advance, and we're sitting here today and we still don't see him… That to me kills me inside, because I have to answer questions from these people every day."

Commissioner Bob Hovis agreed with Brown.

"I am the one who challenged the CEO from this dais in our meeting two years ago to come apologize to these people who he said… had been strong-armed by individuals working on behalf of acquiring these properties by Piedmont Lithium," Hovis said. "I challenged him to come to speak to these people personally, face to face."

The fact that he didn't show, "is kind of a little offensive to us," Hovis said.

The commissioners were not the only ones concerned. Ten people stood up and spoke, and all opposed the mine.

One of the speakers, former Gaston County District Attorney Locke Bell, who lives in Crouse, said that he expects the mine to cause wells to run dry, which could cause a domino effect that could lead to people losing their homes.

"Gaston County has a minimum housing code. It requires operable plumbing. The minute that well goes dry, the people in that house are in violation of the minimum housing code," he said. "That then jeopardizes their homeowner's policy, and when your homeowner's policy is canceled, you get foreclosed on."

"It's taken two years, and we have no new answers for anything," he added. "We got no new answers tonight."

The youngest speaker was Bryson Leonhardt, a 15-year-old who lives in Crouse.

"I spend the majority of my time outside hunting, fishing, camping, anything I can enjoy in the fresh air," he said. "I don't think it's fair that my little sister and I have to worry about (whether) the creek we play in will be polluted by hazardous chemicals. Will we even be able to catch fish safely anymore?"

Warren Snowdon of Lincolnton, who shares a property line with the proposed mining site, said he wasn't convinced by what he heard during the meeting.

"I don't know about the rest of my neighbors in the room, but I think I have more questions and I'm more concerned and more confused tonight than I was before I got here," he said. "I was hoping to get answers. I was hoping to learn more tonight. I'm really struggling because I've got so many questions that are unanswered."

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Piedmont Lithium faces questions, criticism at latest meeting with county