Home Action Alerts News Alert: Judge Orders Titan and DENR to Follow SEPA!
News Alert: Judge Orders Titan and DENR to Follow SEPA!
Tuesday, 04 May 2010 01:28
STOPTITAN NEWS FLASH!

Judge Orders Titan and DENR to Follow SEPA!!!

In a sweeping rebuke to DENR and Titan Cement, Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens ruled today that the State Environmental Policy Act, known as SEPA, applies to Titan Cement! The ruling overturns the Department of Administration's interpretation of the 1971 law, and enjoins DENR from issuing any state permits to Titan Cement until the SEPA requirements have been met. This means that Titan can receive no air permit or any other permits until a comprehensive environmental review of the cumulative impacts of the massive plant and mine on our community is complete. The state could use the federal Environmental Impact Statement as their document, but that has been dead in the water since Titan began its lobbying effort for an air permit. The federal EIS typically takes two years or more to complete. Read all about it in the Star-News, Lumina News, and from Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts.

This doesn't mean the fight is over. Titan or the state agencies could appeal the matter to a higher court, or Titan could throw all its money and lawyers at the EIS process being run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But it serves as a resounding validation of what this community has been saying, loud and clear, for two years now--that Titan and DENR broke the law and did an end run around SEPA. Now that Judge Stephens concurs, we hope the loophole that allowed heavy polluting industries to evade one of the state's  fundamental environmental laws is slammed shut forever. We also hope that Titan takes note that this community is united in its opposition to their heavy polluting project, and will fight it tooth and nail for as long as it takes.

SEPA also considers comments from elected officials in affected communities...and it just so happens there is a primary election tomorrow. We can't tell you how to cast your vote, but we hope you'll take the time to find out where the candidates stand on Titan Cement and other smokestack industries and vote accordingly.

A huge and heartfelt thanks goes out to the lawyers, Derb Carter and Geoff Gisler of the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Michelle Nowlin of the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic who argued so eloquently for our cause. Also a huge thanks goes out to the North Carolina Coastal Federation, Cape Fear River Watch, and PenderWatch and Conservancy who brought in the legal guns. And of course, a mammoth thank you to our community and all the citizens and organizations that supported this case.

So, what's next? Come on out and celebrate the SEPA ruling and help us continue the fight this Saturday, May 8th, for our Reach the Beach fundraiser, because it ain't over until the cement tycoons sing. If you haven't already, please register for the 5 K Race / 1 Mile Family Walk and plan to join your fellow Stop Titan supporters as we make our point very, very clear....we're not stopping until Titan Cement stops. Bring your Mom along! You can find all the details at www.Reachthebeach2010.com.

Your Happy Friends and Neighbors at

StopTitan.org
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Woodchuck  - Great News !   |2010-05-03 19:06:03
From the Lumina News: "The environmental policy act requires that a project meet three criteria: it poses an environmental hazard, it impacts state-owned lands and that it receives public funding."

That law needs to be changed, because it sets an unreasonably high bar to trigger a full environmental review. A cement plant comes with a huge menu of downside impacts-- that should be enough in itself to trigger a thorough review.
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Triangle Residents for preserv   |2010-05-04 13:50:44
Hooray from the Triangle!!! Just think what could be accomplished if all of this negative energy could be redirected to attracting clean industry to Wilmington instead of fighting old school industry. Wilmington has always been 10 years behind any US/world trend, now is the time to shed that old thinking and harness all of this great energy in the positive pursuit of recruiting clean economic development. UNCW's entrepreneurial development and the Titan environmental scare has created the energy needed to preserve our unique historical coastal region for generations to come. All of us who live or visit the area can be clean development ambassadors and recruit clean industry to the area. Many are invested in their positions, but they need to stop trying to be right and concede to what is best for the majority and generations to come.

This is only a prelude to the oil drilling debate which will also threaten our area. The gulf oil spill may be an other fortuitous human error to wake citizens up to being proactive. Hopefully, our President will rethink his position and make the right decision to promote clean energy instead of perpetuating the human error of a hundred years ago when cars were going to be initially developed using electricity instead of gas. In those early days oil tycoons manipulated automobile development to use their oil fields. In the day of the Internet individuals can make a difference and prevent corporate greed from negatively impacting their lives. CFCC has begun offering sustainable programs and converted a gas car to electric power. Continue this momentum and make New Hanover County a leader in those new technologies and economic/ecologic prosperity.
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