North Carolina residents combat unlawful mine throughout Hurricane Helene restoration | USAEMALL.com

Residents in Poplar, North Carolina, are fed up with an allegedly illegal mining operation they say has been polluting the riverbed and sending thick dust into the air for nearly a year as the mountain community still rebuilds from Hurricane Helene.

Outraged Western North Carolinians in the tight-knit community are traveling to Boone on Monday where a court hearing will determine whether the mine operated by Horizon 30, LLC, can be shut down or face civil or criminal penalties. 

On Friday, the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) announced that it had determined the mining operation at Carter Quarry in Mitchell County was unauthorized and in violation of state mining laws. 

The North Carolina Justice Department is seeking a criminal injunction. State officials say the operation has continued along the Nolichucky River for months despite Horizon 30 repeatedly being warned that it lacks proper permitting.

VOLUNTEERS HELP REBUILD NORTH CAROLINA HOMES 10 MONTHS AFTER HURRICANE HELENE

Drone footage of mining activity happening in Poplar, North Carolina. (Leo Sharp)

“This mine is so detrimental to the area,” Tessa Sharp, who lives on a nearby homestead with her Navy veteran husband, Leo Sharp, told Fox News Digital. 

Residents who spoke to Fox News Digital made a contrast between the mine operated by Horizon 30 and another nearby in Spruce Pine operated by Sibelco North America Inc. 

Sibelco, residents said, has established infrastructure to mine for quartz, employs locally and contributes to the local economy. The one by Horizon 30 descended on the area after Helene. 

“They’re trying to see what they can get away with so that they can take advantage of an area that’s still recovering after Helene,” Tessa Sharp said, arguing the mine was benefitting from slowed bureaucratic checks and balances. “If it is something that’s feasible for them to get in and make their money, what’s to stop them from going up to another neighbor’s property and doing this? They know it’s going to take, at this point, almost a year for anything legal to come about.” 

Tessa and Leo Sharp said all but one of their 14 rabbits have died since the mining operation began in December. They attribute the deaths to respiratory issues from the thick dust in the air. 

Drone footage captured Horizon 30 mining activity in Poplar, North Carolina. (Leo Sharp)

The couple, who’ve operated a homestead with turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese and quail in the area for about three years, said high floodwaters that swept in during Helene damaged their home’s foundation, separating their bedroom from the rest of the house. Amid the initial storm, they rushed to evacuate their livestock to the pig pen of their barn on higher ground. 

They said they lived in a tent on the property in the intal aftermath and had been “couch-surfing” with family nearby for more than 10 months before recently moving back into the home. 

“This is not something that we all were planning on dealing with while we’re in the process of rebuilding,” Leo Sharp told Fox News Digital. “This is a community that’s been hurt, and we don’t need to be hurt anymore than we already have. And the fact that we’re sitting here having to deal with this while we don’t even have our bedroom back is unbelievable, and you know, it just needs to stop. It needs to stop, and it needs to go away.” 

Cody Johnson, an Army veteran who grew up in the mountain community, told Fox News Digital that “massive plumes” of silica dust can be spotted over the treeline by the entrance to the mine – next to a property where several children live. 

NORTH CAROLINA TOWN DESTROYED BY HURRICANE HELENE HOPING TO WELCOME TOURISTS BACK BY MIDSUMMER

Drone footage shows what the state recently deemed an “illegal” mine operation that swept into Poplar, North Carolina, in the wake of Hurricane Helene. (Leo Sharp)

He accused Horizon 30 of coming into the area “under the guise of emergency protocols” enacted to rebuild a section of the railroad destroyed by the hurricane.

“Get out of North Carolina. We don’t want you here,” Johnson said, addressing Horizon 30 directly. “You came in under the guise of emergency protocols, trying to fool people – unethical.” 

Horizon 30, LLC is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to its registration records with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State and the Pennsylvania Department of State.

As the permitting process stalled earlier this year, Horizon 30 CFO Sean Chipman penned a letter to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in May. 

“H30 relies upon the emergency permits, authorizations, waivers and other applicable allowances for services in support of the Emergency Railway Repairs and also the Executive Orders of the President of the United States of America, including those in support of the America First initiative and energy independence, as well as prior and concurrent emergency response directives,” Chipman wrote at the time.

Chipman argued that the mining application was made “in conjunction with some of the leading professionals in the mining industry” and the Army Corps of Engineers had conducted a review. In the letter, he said the company took “corrective measures” to meet the department’s requirements and “wishes to continue to have a good and productive relationship with your Department and the State.” 

Attempts to reach Horizon 30 for comment were unsuccessful. 

Horizon 30 mine operating without a permit in Poplar, North Carolina. (Leo Sharp)

Residents said the company has not employed locals and license plates at the Poplar site are from places including Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Arizona. 

Since the mining operation began in December, Tessa Sharp said the DEQ has relayed to the community that “other than serving cease and desist and sending these cases to the DOJ and Supreme Court, there’s nothing that we can do to stop them.” 

“As a landowner, I think that is really concerning for North Carolina residents,” Tessa Sharp said. 

The North Carolina Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) told Fox News Digital that Horizon 30 has been operating the mining site in Poplar since December without the required state permit despite multiple warnings and on-site inspections. Over several months, DEMLR said it issued multiple formal regulatory requirement notices and violation notices directing the company to either stop operations or obtain a valid mining permit.

Inspections confirmed the expansion of unpermitted mining activity, prompting repeated enforcement actions. While Horizon 30 has submitted parts of a permit application, DEMLR said the company has not yet approved it due to incomplete information, and the company remains out of compliance with the Mining Act.

Johnson, who lives on about 80 acres, described how dead birds and other wildlife have been discovered in the area since the mining operation began. 

Drone footage of Horizon 30 operations in Poplar, North Carolina. (Leo Sharp)

Leo Sharp shared drone footage with Fox News Digital showing excavators and other heavy machinery continuing to operate at the site earlier this month. 

State labor department records show Horizon 30 submitted a mining permit application, which is marked as incomplete and as pending review.  

The state Labor Department said Friday that the illegal mining operation was discovered after the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration requested that the NCDOL provide miner safety training at the site. During that visit, a state Labor Department official “identified multiple irregularities and immediately questioned whether the site had the required state environmental permit,” according to the department. The company then failed to produce the necessary documentation. 

“This is exactly why I’ve made it a priority to support and empower our field staff,” state Labor Commissioner Luke Farley said in a statement on Friday. “Their experience, judgment, and vigilance are critical to keeping workers safe and enforcing the law. If our staff hadn’t gone above and beyond their duty to protect workers, this illegal operation could have continued unnoticed – putting lives at risk and undermining public trust in our regulatory system.”