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(Ok, we don’t have videotape, but we’ve got the other two in spades.)
Remember all those statements by Titan officials denying they were trying to get out of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review? Or the recent letter by local Titan/WID advocate Bob Warwick to Governor Bev Perdue that all of Titan’s activities have been “very ethical and very appropriate.” Well emails between Titan representatives and state officials obtained under the Freedom of Information Act paint quite a different picture. The e-correspondence from last summer shows just how far Titan will go to avoid SEPA, which originally applied to Titan’s project when it was first announced more than a year ago. SEPA would force Titan to wait on all state permits until the Federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is complete—a process expected to take 18 – 24 months. Titan was able to get the SEPA requirement dropped sometime in late 2008 and we’ve always wondered how they did it. Well, now we’ve seen some of the emails--and it seems pretty apparent.
In July 22, 2008 Marino Papazoglou, Director of Business Development for Titan America, got an email from a Titan America lawyer with a summary of things that trigger a SEPA review. Mr. Papazoglou forwards the email to contacts at the Department of Commerce, to lobbyist John Merritt, to the CEO of Wilmington Industrial Development (WID) Scott Satterfield, to New Hanover County Manager Bruce Shell and to Steve Yost, marketing manager for North Carolina Southeast’s—an economic development outfit that supports the Titan project. In the email, Mr. Papazoglou says that Titan wants their air permit issued by the end of 2008, but NC regulations require they wait until the wetlands permit (which triggered the Federal Environmental Impact Statement) is complete. Mr. Papazoglou goes on to say “I am not comfortable with the State’s position, because we do not know, what, if any, new regulations may be established by the new administration(s).” He then follows with a question to the email recipients, in which he asks “…can we change the incentives package offered by the State and the County to become credits instead of grants? This change will automatically eliminate one of the hurdles…..I would also like to hear from [Commerce and NC Southeast’s officials] on why we were not made aware of the link between SEPA and incentives in the past and whether we can approach [DENR lawyers] and try to help us.”
The hurdles Mr. Papazoglou is referencing are the 4.5 million dollars of State and County money Titan had accepted for their cement project.
And what do you think was the response to Mr. Papazoglou’s question? A very speedy email from Mr. Merritt to say he already had a call scheduled the next morning with then-Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain and others about this issue. Mr. Merritt ends his email with advice to Mr. Papazoglou and the others. “Please, no one make any contact on this matter until you hear back from me.”
Even though Titan has modified its plans three times to remove things that would likely trigger SEPA (such as mining in state wetlands, use of barges, and giving back a $200,000 state railroad grant), company officials still maintain they are not trying to avoid SEPA. This statement is usually followed by their pledge to be good stewards of our environment and to have “the most environmentally friendly cement plant in the U.S.” or the whole world, depending on who’s talking—Marino, Kate McClain, Bob Odom, John Merritt, or Scott Satterfield of WID. In a January 2009 letter to the Star-News, Mr. Papazoglou denied that Titan was trying to avoid SEPA with a righteous declaration that his company wasn’t trying to “sneak something through the regulatory process.”
For those folks who like to see it for themselves, here’s when the NC Department of Administration—which administers the SEPA law—says it applies:
“What makes a proposed project subject to SEPA?"
"Any project meeting all the following “triggers” is subject to SEPA: (1) the project is carried out with public funds and/or uses state land, (2) a project requires a state approval action in order to be implemented, and (3) a project has the potential for an environmental impact."
"Which “public funds” are applicable under SEPA?"
"Public funds include all expenditures in support of a proposed activity by federal, state, local, or quasi-public entities. It does not include funds used solely for processing a license or a permit, or for the provision of technical services.”
For more on SEPA, click here. And finally…a note about Titan’s pledge that their NC plant will be the most environmentally friendly plant in the world. Sounds great doesn’t it? Even though it’s a bit like saying they’ve got the least leaky oil tanker on the ocean. Unfortunately, it is patently false. When Rep. Carolyn Justice and Rep. Danny McComas met with Titan officials recently, our local legislators asked Titan to meet 6 conditions that would make the Titan project more environmentally friendly, one of which was to match the emissions of the cleanest cement plant in the world—and Titan refused. The only condition Titan did agree to do, was the one thing they are now required to do under the new EPA cement regulations--install continuous emissions monitors.
Looks like we can now add Titan’s claims about avoiding SEPA and building the cleanest cement plant in the U.S. to our ever-growing list of Titanic Tales. As for Mr. Warwick’s claim that Titan has been “very ethical and very appropriate,” we’ll let the citizens be the judge of that.
Remember, Titan is seeking permission to build what would be the 4th largest cement plant in the nation along a stretch of river that is already impaired for mercury. They want to destroy 1,000 acres of wetlands so they can mine above county residents’ primary source of drinking water, their plant will be within 5 miles of where more than 8,500 students will attend school, AND it will emit thousands of tons of criteria pollutants and heavy toxic metals, some of which are known carcinogens. Cement plants are the 4th largest source of airborne mercury emissions in the US; they contribute to 5 % of worldwide CO2 emissions and account for 9 % of all toxic release data reported to the EPA. Cement plants are major industrial polluters. Titan will have a major impact on our environment (and according to more than 200 local doctors, on our public health as well), and they are getting $4.5 million of our public money. This is exactly what SEPA was designed to evaluate and exactly why it should apply. Unless, that is, you are Titan America, a billion dollar company with powerful friends and allies who know how to help avoid a pesky NC regulation intended to protect citizens just like us.
Call Governor Bev Perdue (1-800-662-7952 toll free, or her direct line at 919-733-5811) today and ask her to protect our community. Titan America should follow the law and SEPA should apply.
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