Come One, Come All to Tuesday’s Scoping Meeting!

The time is here, so come celebrate Independence week by exercising your democratic right to tell the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers What to Do! All you have to do is show up Tuesday night, July 1, at 6 pm at Wilmington Christian Academy/Grace Baptist Church, 1401 North College Road. Then tell Corps officials what you want included in Titan’s Environmental Impact Statement.

This is the critical first public meeting in the permit process. If Titan doesn’t get its permits, it can’t build the plant, so come out and tell the Army Corps everything you are concerned about.

Here’s how EIS scoping meetings typically work:

Army Corps officials will give a rundown of the process and then break everyone into groups based on subjects of concern (Public Health, Air, Water, Aquifer, etc.) Then they’ll go around and ask everyone what concerns them about the proposed plant and what they want included in the EIS. (Haven’t a clue as to what to ask them to include? Cut and paste from the list below or click on the links to the left below the “Scoping issues” that concern you the most. Then ask whatever else you deem appropriate.)

They’ll write all our concerns and questions down on a big dry erase board and take it back to HQ and compile all the concerns into categories, which they will eventually ask Titan to address. Since this is such a massive project that will have major impacts on public health, the environment and our economy for the next half century, we feel the Corps needs to commission several independent studies to let us know exactly how this plant will affect our children and community.

Titan may run from public forums sponsored by the Star-News, but they can’t hide from the Corps of Engineers, so we need as many people at the scoping meeting as possible to make sure our concerns are voiced in each breakout group. If you can’t attend, or you have a detailed list, you have until 4:15 pm on July 15, 2008 to email your comments to Mr. Henry Wicker at:
Henry.M.Wicker.Jr@usace.army.mil or snail mail them to him at P.O. Box 1890, Wilmington, NC 28402.

PUBLIC HEALTH

We respectfully request a full Health Risk Assessment conducted by an independent non-biased organization such as the University of North Carolina School of Public Health or the Duke University School of Public Health to address the cumulative health impacts of the proposed cement plant on communities and high-risk populations in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender Counties. Including:

–-The impact of Titan’s proposed mercury, hydrochloric acid, and particulate matter emissions on the health of our children, particularly those who attend elementary and preschools within ten miles of the proposed plant, and other high risk groups, such as those with asthma, heart disease, emphysema, diabetes, and other impaired lung functions, over the operating life of the proposed cement plant.

–The impacts of Titan’s proposed mercury emissions, now and any increases in the future, on local recreational fisheries, consumption advisories for those fish, and the potential impacts on prenatal health, including any possible increases in birth defects, neurological disorders, behavioral disorders, and autism.

–-The impacts of NO2 and SO2 on public health, including increases in acid rain and smog,

–-The impacts of CO on human health, since New Hanover County already ranks first in the state for CO emissions.

–-The impacts of CO2 emissions on public health and the environment, specifically since the Supreme Court has now determined that CO2 is a pollutant and should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

–-Titan has said they are considering burning tires at the Castle Hayne plant. Many other cement kilns also burn hazardous waste. What are the health impacts, including increased potential mortality and increases in cancer rates from the emissions that would be emitted from burning such fuels, including dioxins, furans, and any other toxins, including those found in the resulting Cement Kiln Dust, and the potential for the fugitive dust to reach communities or schools in the counties.

–We request an independent study of prevailing winds and the smokestack plume to determine the type and amounts of the contaminants coming from the plant’s stack emissions, vehicle emissions, and fugitive dust will fall within one, five, ten, 15, and 20 miles of its stack.

–Since Titan and other limestone mining companies are suspected of contaminating the aquifer beneath their Florida mines with benzene, what would be the health impacts of the contamination of the Pee Dee and Castle Hayne Aquifers with benzene and other pollutants from Titan’s proposed 1200-acre limestone mine, and how would Titan safeguard the counties’ primary water source?

WATER, WETLANDS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Due to the extremely large size and scope of the proposed cement plant and limestone mine and the major potential impacts on a critically important water sources, we respectfully request a complete hydrological impact study of the proposed plant on local surface waters, groundwater, and aquifers, to be conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, which has done similar studies in Brunswick and Onslow Counties. This study should address, among other things, the impacts of the mine and plant on the availability of clean ground water and surface waters in adequate amounts for present and future needs.

– What will be the impact of increased nitrogen pollution from the plant on our local rivers, sounds, and estuaries and its potential effect on algal blooms, shellfish and sport fisheries? How does Titan plan to safeguard our watershed from nitrogen pollution?

–-What is the feasibility of carbon sequestration from Titan’s proposed plant, as well as whether the plant would be economically viable if a price/cost/or tax is placed on carbon emissions in the near future?

–Please determine the exact amount and type of fugitive emissions from the plant and how Titan plans to remediate or clean up areas affected by such emissions, including Island Creek and the Northeast Cape Fear River. At other plants, they use water to wash down trucks and roads. How will they treat their stormwater and dust-control water run-off to keep potentially harmful substances out of nearby lakes, streams, and rivers?

–What is the precise amount (not estimates) of mercury emissions that will be released from plant at current projected clinker rates, given the exact analysis of the mercury content in the local limestone, in the type of fly ash planned to be used and the type of coal that will be used. Other cement plants in the United States that currently produce similar amounts of clinker emit nearly twice the estimated amount of mercury emissions from the Titan plant.

–-Will Titan’s proposed plant make New Hanover County a federal non-attainment area for air pollution? If not, how close will it bring our county to being a federal non-attainment area? How much money will the county lose in federal funds if we become a non-attainment area.

–-How will Titan mitigate the impacts its 1,200 acre limestone mine, with it’s mining explosions, noise, and dust, on the aesthetics, fish and wildlife values of Island Creek?

–-How will Titan mitigate the utter destruction of nearly 500 acres of wetlands, when wetlands are not widgets, and provide local values and ecosystem services in one place that cannot be replicated elsewhere?

–-Exactly how much water will Titan take from the Pee Dee and Castle Hayne Aquifers to dewater its mine and in its cement manufacturing operations, and what will they do with that water? How many future homes would that water supply if left in the aquifer?

-–The proposed Titan mine is roughly one mile from a federal Superfund site under the former Oxychem plant, now known as Elementis. As we understand it, the site consists of a deposit of carcinogenic chromium compounds in the Castle Hayne aquifer that are kept in place by injection wells surrounding the contaminated area. It is also our understanding that when the Martin Marietta aggregate mine–which would be consumed by the Titan mine–turns on its dewatering system, the injection wells around the Elementis Superfund site turn on–suggesting some hydraulic connectivity between the two areas. We therefore request a thorough independent study on the impacts Titan’s dewatering system would have on the chromium deposit under Elementis. This should include what Titan would do if its much larger dewatering system began to be contaminated by chromium compounds from the Elementis site? Would they be allowed to dump this water into the Cape Fear River? Would they be forced to remove the chromium? What would be the potential health effects if chromium compounds were released into the Northeast Cape Fear River or into the Castle Hayne Aquifer?

–-Does Titan have enough raw materials and/or limestone in it’s current proposed mine site to sustain its cement plant for the next 30 to 50 years, or will it have to open future mines? Where would those mines be located and how large would they be? What would be the cumulative impact of all of these mines on the aquifers and nearby wetlands, streams, and rivers?

WILDLIFE

–-What would be the effect of the proposed plant on any current or future federally or state-listed endangered or threatened species or species of concern, particularly fish and amphibians that are particularly sensitive to mercury emissions? We formerly request an independent survey of threatened, endangered, or rare species of plants and animals on the proposed mine site and surrounding areas and streams.

–-What impacts would the proposed Titan plant have on significant fish and shellfish habitat both in the Cape Fear River System and in coastal waters? Will their emissions contaminate local oyster and clam beds?

–Island Creek serves as prime habitat for numerous ducks and other migratory species, as well as several neotropical songbirds. How will emissions from the proposed plant and the destruction of nearly 500 acres of wetlands affect these species?

–-The Cape Fear River is already contaminated with mercury. How will the nearly 8,000 pounds of mercury emitted into our streams, creeks, rivers, and air over the 30 year life of the proposed Titan plant affect public health and the environment, including fish consumption advisories and their economic impact on recreational fisheries?

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS

–-There is great debate among economists on the actual economic impacts of the proposed Titan cement plant. Because of the tremendous size and scope of this project, and its potential to have serious impacts on the economy of our region, we request a full, independent social impact assessment, from a university or qualified firm, such as Impact Assessment, Inc., which has done such studies on the North Carolina coast in the past. Such a study should include both short-term and long-term socioeconomic impacts of the proposed Titan cement plant, including how it will affect health care costs, infrastructure costs, wages, job turnover rates, worker safety, employment, real estate values, and lost economic development from high-tech or information industries that do not want to locate near a cement plant. It should also include the impacts of increasing mercury levels in local freshwater, brackish, and saltwater fish species on the local economy, which receives millions in revenue each year from recreational fishermen and is a primary incentive for attracting new residents.

–Island Creek is a known area of Native American activity. We therefore request an archaeological survey of the proposed mine site by independent archeologists to determine the archaeological significance of the sites in this area.

–-How does Titan plan to clean up its proposed plant site and limestone mine after its economic life is over? How can local citizens be sure Titan will have enough funds to remediate and clean up the site in 30 to 50 years, particularly since the cement industry has historically been a boom and bust industry. Will they be required to post a remediation bond? How much will that be and will it be enough to meet estimated clean-up costs after inflation?

–We request an independent study on the exact savings projected in cement and/or concrete costs to local builders and construction firms working on local development and infrastructure projects to purchase cement/concrete from current suppliers versus purchasing such products from the proposed Titan plant based on independent projections of cement demand over the next 50 years.

–How much of its cement production does Titan plan to export?

–Many industries and federal agencies expect the next Congress and Administration to place a cost and/or tax on carbon emissions. How will a carbon tax affect the economic impact of the proposed plant on our counties? Since it will emit millions of tons of CO2, will it limit future industries from coming into our region if a carbon tax is regulated in the future?

–Since CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas, and our coastal region is among the most susceptible to sea-level rise from global climate change with millions of dollars in coastal real estate at risk, we request an independent study to look at the potential for sequestering CO2 emissions from the proposed plant, and how such emissions, if not sequestered will contribute to the state’s total CO2 emissions and be affected by efforts to reduce them.

TRAFFIC AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Given the size of the proposed mine and plant, and the potential for 30,000 to 40,000 large truck trips each year on our local roads and bridges, we request an independent traffic and infrastructure impact study to look at public safety, accident rates, fatality rates, and infrastructure and congestion costs associated with the proposed facility.

–Such a study should also include the impacts of thermal (heat) pollution on the surrounding area, including its impacts on the generation of fog on major and minor nearby bridges over the Northeast Cape Fear River and Island Creek.

–The study should also include the impact on air traffic of the proposed facility, since it sits in the flight path for Wilmington International Airport.