Sorry for the delay in getting out this update, but it took 12 days for the folks at NC Division of Air Quality to clarify a few critical details about the draft permit---like what the annual emissions will be! But we have the data now and will post it on our website soon, or you can pore over the permit yourself at http://daq.state.nc.us/permits/psd/titan.shtml and see what they’ve got in store for our children’s lungs.

First some housecleaning. Donations to Friends of the Lower Cape Fear are now officially tax-deductible! So send us whatever you can to keep the ball rolling. Air permit experts have been hired, environmental lawyers are working on legal issues and water experts will start summarizing the impacts of Titan’s estimated 7-10 Million gallons of daily water removal from our aquifer. Remember, we’re all volunteers here so every penny you send goes straight to the cause.

Second, come on out to the Cypress Festival and Greenfield Lake tomorrow (Saturday) to help support the Cape Fear River Keeper who are heavily involved in the Titan fight. We’ll have a booth with bumper stickers, yard signs, buttons and lots of info about Titan and the upcoming permit hearings. Drop by and say hello!

Now for the Draft Permit.

Public Hearings are scheduled for October 20 at the Cape Fear Community College, North Campus (details below) so mark it on your calendar. You’ll need to sign up to speak. Show up with as many folks as you can pack in your car. The public comment period is open until October 30, so we need everyone to write DAQ’s Don van der Vaart at the address below and tell him what you think. Apparently, DAQ doesn’t accept email comments (in order to limit public participation, perhaps?), so break out those stamps and envelopes. We need everyone to comment early and comment often. You can send comments by mail AND speak at the hearing…it all becomes part of the public record.

We’ll send out talking points in a few days, to help those who want to know the nitty-gritty of this Titanic mistake. But don’t wait on us, feel free to fire off your letter today and tell Mr. van der Vaart what you think. In our reading of the draft permit it appears DAQ has done absolutely nothing to require Titan to reduce its proposed emissions above and beyond what is currently required by law. Essentially, Titan’s emmissions stayed basically the same as what they submitted in their “wish list” permit application—which makes one wonder why DAQ waited 18 months if they were simply going to rubber stamp it. If this draft remains unchanged, Titan will SUPER-SIZE the emissions in New Hanover County, and we already have some of the highest emissions of criteria pollutants and toxic heavy metals of any county in the state (including more criteria air pollutants than Wake, Durham, and Orange Counties combined). According to DAQ, the following Emissions will not cause a serious deterioration of our air:

• 263 lbs. of Mercury each year---giving us the 3^rd highest mercury emissions in NC.
• 348 tons of Particulate matter (2.5) each year—equivalent to 22.5 billion cigarettes.
• 172 lbs. of Lead each year.
• 6,792 lbs. of Benzene each year.
• 21,900 lbs. of Ammonia each year.
• 4,928 lbs. of Polycyclic Organic Matter (POMs) each year.

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