SOUTH HEART (AP) - People near the site of a proposed coal gasification plant worry it will disturb their lives and their land in the North Dakota Badlands.

Neil and Laura Tangen came from Hawley, Minn., seven years ago. Frank and Lucy Hurt are North Dakota natives and third-generation ranchers.

The $1.4 billion project proposed by Great Northern Power Development, LP includes a plant and lignite mine near South Heart, in western Stark County. Great Northern wants to start construction in late 2009.

An affiliated company, Great Northern Properties, LP, holds 3 billion tons of lignite reserves in western North Dakota. Both companies are based in Houston.

The Tangens' 80-acre piece of land is near a creek that would cross through the largest of three mining areas for the proposed plant.

"One of the mine areas will be directly across the gravel road from our house," Tangen said.

"What's scary about this project is a lot of community members don't know much about it," Laura Tangen said. "We're also concerned about what this plant and its pollutants could mean for a historic site like the Theodore Roosevelt National Park."

The Tangen family moved to the area to give horseback riding tours at the Peaceful Valley Ranch inside the park's south unit during the summer. Neil Tangen said his family was not aware of the coal nearby, or that it could be part of any coal projects in the future.

Great Northern Vice President Richard Voss said the coal reserves go across just about every other section of land. He said the company is working on agreements with landowners in the area.

The Hurts' ranch, southwest of the Tangens, would not be as close to a mining area, but is close to the proposed plant site.

Frank Hurt runs the family ranch with his brother George. He and his wife, Lucy, are bus drivers for the South Heart school and have seven foster children.

Neither the Tangens nor the Hurts have been approached for their land by the power company. But they have sent out nearly 500 letters to people in South Heart, Belfield, Dickinson, New England and Medora.

The letters mention potential health affects, pollutants, water, reclamation and populations of counties near other plants.

"The letters were strictly about getting out information and making people aware," Neil Tangen said. "Even if it's not happening in your back yard, this will affect South Heart, Belfield, Dickinson, New England and Medora."

Voss also has sent a letter to area residents about the project. Great Northern officials have said the plant would be cleaner than a coal-fired electric power plant and would give off much less carbon dioxide.

Voss said more public meetings are planned, most likely starting early next year.

"At that first (public) meeting, which was the only one we were invited to, they didn't give out any contact information," Laura Tangen said.

"There have mostly been meetings for a handful of people around to explain their plans, while the rest of us have to wait for something to come out in the newspaper," Frank Hurt said. He hopes the letters sent by him and others result in more information.

"We're not good at this kind of stuff," he said. "This isn't what we do. We're pretty well adapted to farming and ranching, but the battle of the coal company is not what we're great at."