> “The call to restrict open pit mining — that’s the open sore in the face of the Earth argument,” said Dr. Martin Yates, laboratory manager and instructor at t

> “The call to restrict open pit mining — that’s the open sore in the face of the Earth argument,” said Dr. Martin Yates, laboratory manager and instructor at the School of Earth and Climate Sciences at the University of Maine. “Once you’ve opened a hole like that, it’s not really going to grow back.” Maine is full of holes in the ground where granite was extracted. I can totally understand why some of the population wants to strictly regulate mining. I went camping in Maine a few years ago, and the campground had visible artifacts from mining. The people running the campground told us that "everyone" goes swimming in deep flooded granite pits. The campground itself had a flooded granite pit near the bathroom. It had a paddle boat that I used, but swimming was prohibited because of "insurance" and supposed abandoned mining equipment in the bottom of the pit. There was also an abandoned pump visible at the top of the pit. When we walked around, there was surface granite clearly stripped away as well.