FILLMORE : Group to Protest Strip-Mining Plan
Stop Mining in Rural Fillmore, a citizens action group formed three years ago, will visually and vocally protest SC Milling’s strip-mining proposal at a Ventura County public hearing today.
The group has proclaimed Nov. 1 as “Day of the Dead Fruit,” and some members will dress as dirty, dusty produce to demonstrate the damage done to crops by strip-mining, said Clark Johnson of Fillmore, a member of the group.
Johnson, whose farm is near the proposed strip-mine, said he was planning to dress in more conservative attire to make a reasoned argument at the hearing. He said the project’s environmental impact report, which states that strip-mining would not influence the surrounding citrus groves or homes, is inaccurate.
“The environmental impact report that was produced by the consulting firm is so full of absurdities,” he said. “I have the tendency to attack it for the bogus piece of paper it is.”
If the mining project is approved, SP Milling would strip-mine near Fillmore for 30 years.
The protest will begin at 1 p.m. at Acapulco Restaurant, 725 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura, and move across the street to the Ventura County Government Center. The hearing to review the environmental report will take place later in Room 344 in the Hall of Administration.
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