The Star-News Weighs In
After a few weeks of non-coverage of the environmental and health impacts of a massive cement plant proposed for Castle Hayne, the Star-News has begun digging deeper, publishing a few stories last week on the downside of cement manufacturing and culminating with a solid editorial on the subject in Sunday’s paper (5/25). Though hardly a full-throated outcry against the plan, the paper’s editors legitimized the public’s concerns for their health and environment, and prodded the commissioners to dig deeper as well:
“The county commissioners also should ask hard questions, not merely tout the economic impact of their deal with Titan. That’s important. But just as important is the impact this plant will have on our air, our water, our food supply and our health.” –from Star-News editorial, 5/25/08
There’s an article today in the WSN Neighbors section about Titan — quotes a Titan rep confirming that Castle Hayne is their main target among the several they were apparently considering at one time.
Also mentions Stop Titan, the petition against Titan’s plant.
There’s also a new section in the online WSN:
Special Coverage: Titan Cement Plant
There is a forum dedicated to the stop Titan movement……go to WSN website , click opinions,……click forums,…….left hand column click Titan
Star News is one of the area business’ that is/was instrumental in bringing in Titan!!! Wonder if the writiers that are rallying against Titan know this? Some of the others are UNCW (yes UNCW, who’s scientists are objecting), New Hanover Regional Medical Center, & Cape Fear Community College!! Other than Star News, the other’s are publically funded!! That’s our tax dollars at work!!
Wait wait wait a second here. You’re telling me the NEWSPAPER was instrumental in bringing a CEMENT plant to town? And then that a number of their writers are rallying against Titan?? Marc, these things do not compute. As a former journalist, newspapers are a news watchdog, designed to be unbiased (and the media in general; although they really, truly are not). I’d like to know where you got your information.
Your tax dollars SHOULD be at work for a project like this! I’ve got to dissent with all of you. As I’ve said before, no one wants a factory in their backyard - I among them - but you gotta look at what all this will bring to the area! New jobs, new industries, higher pay, diversity, and on and on.
Instead of screaming that the sky is falling, let’s start asking relevant questions rather than shouting exaggerated accusations. What is everyone so afraid of? Change? Pollution? This is 2008, not 1888. Current regulations in place, you could probably safer eat off the new cement plant’s sidewalk than your own neighbor’s kitchen counter. I’m just sayin’.
Where’s the exaggeration? Even Titan’s Corporate Affairs rep says we are right in our concerns. And EPA has been sued 4 times in the past 10 years for violation of the Clean Air Act as it applies to their failure to protect people from the dangers of cement kilns. Did you know there’s a hotspot of mercury contamination about 50 miles from Wilmington? Came from a legally permitted industry that spewed too much mercury…oops!, now folks living nearby get the dubious honor of having some of the highest mercury samples ever recorded in the USA! And I’d love to see you eat off a cement plant’s sidewalk. Would you like a side of kiln dust, peppered with chromium, or perhaps a substitute of mercury contaminated fish. Maybe some benzene contaminated water from the aquifer (like in Florida) to help it all go down. Tasty, for sure.
Check out the full page ad in Sunday’s WSN…….seems like we have to fight Botetourt County politicians as well as our own!
Mark,
I think what you’re echoing are claims made on a local radio station that the Star-News, CFCC, UNCW and others are behind the Titan project.
What those companies have in common is that they are members of an organization named somthing like the “Committee of 100″. That organization is designed to be something like an incubator for new industry here in Wilmington. For example, talking GE into expanding and joining GE and CFCC together to help train the new workforce.
The radio personality claims commissioners stated that this organization was behind the Titan plant. And so he connected the dots that therefor every company/university inside the organization also supported the plant. What he didn’t do, is what we call in journalism, “second sourcing.” Which is calling every organization and asking whether they support or oppose.
Hope that helps a bit.
Catherine Welch
News Director
WHQR
Thanks for the clarification, Catherine.
Kelly, forgive me. You are in the right to have concerns, and to ask questions. We all are. But shouldn’t they be asked in the form of questions, rather than accusations?
Looking at Titan’s track record makes me feel pretty secure. This isn’t a power plant, or a diesel plant they’re wanting to build in our neighborhood — it’s a cement plant. With tight regulations, and, in looking at their Roanoke facility, plans to go above and beyond maintaining our quality of life, air, water, and so on. I hate that we will lose some of our wetlands, and I hope that Titan will do other things in the community to make up for that, as they have in other places where they do business.
From what I’ve read, the updates Titan made in their Florida plant and New Jersey cement silos include pretty cutting-edge methods for environmental preservation. Perhaps I’m being naive, but I assume they’ll do the same here, if not better. But, even if they made all the promises in the world, and the Corps of Engineers demonstrated that the damage this new plant could cause would be slim to none, would any dissenter change his/her mind?
Sarah. I’ll phrase this as a question and not an accusation. Do you work for Titan? In addition to the print ads, could the nice folks at Titan be trying to infiltrate this web-site? Beware of postings that smell funny (like concrete).
By the way “Sarah”, they burn coal at the plant to satisfy the outrageous energy requirements to make concrete.
Titan will dump mercury into the waters. Proven fact. They will emit God knows what into the air. Proven fact. So they’re going to bring a handful of jobs into a county with one of, if not the, lowest unemployment rate in the state. WE DO NOT NEED THEM!! Go away & destroy someone else’s wetlands, pollute their waters, pollute their air. I will be making a video that will be aired on my website (www.marcash.com) & YouTube. We need to make this problem go away!
It’s a convenient theory, Allen, but an incorrect one. Sorry. My opinion differing from your own does not a cement company employee make me.
I just happen to look at the situation differently than many of you on this site. And I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. What’s wrong with a bit of conversational sparring?
Yes, research shows that Titan will bring a handful of jobs here, Marc, but many other companies will “bolt” onto it over the long run. If I’m remembering correctly, I think it was the in the neighborhood of almost 800 projected jobs. IMO, that’s saying a lot when we’re teetering on the brink of a MAJOR economic downturn, especially seeing as major economic downturn = lack of tourists = lack of tourism dollars for our beaches and hotels and restaurants and shops and road improvements, etc. Can we sustain our super-low unemployment rate without those bucks?
I know they’ll have to burn coal, and I sincerely hope they don’t resort to burning tires, etc. I don’t know that mercury being “dumped” into the water is an accurate description of how that works exactly, but it is definitely something I, and everyone else here, need to do more research on before we damn viable industry from sniffing in our general direction. I’m not saying we need to sell out. We just need to really understand what it is they could bring our way, and then weigh those pros and cons—over the short and long term.
Looking forward to seeing your video, Marc.
We are selling out. Yes, there are other industries coming but with a better track record of being “green”, I hate that word but, it seems to be the “IN” word of the moment for something that ecologically good.
Honestly, we should call for the impeachment of Caster, Kopp, Davis, Greer & anyone else involved this mess. We were decieved over this deal that was 3 years in the making. We were outright lied to.
Last response to your nonsense “Sarah”. Research shows that we will actually end up losing money and jobs on this type of industry. You will also lose local residents and probably a few lives. But not to worry, we will gain mercury (they have admitted this), a handfull of jobs, less wetlands, and a reputation as a dirty industry friendly town.
By the way, which theory are you referring to as convenient and incorrect. Please tell your employers that you were unsuccessful in changing our stance. By the way, if you are not an employee, why are you posting on this site. Looking for a job? Looking for a new source of mercury? Explain yourself.
I’d like to personally thank “Sarah” for her posts since it seems we’ve had a bump in our petition signatures, almost 15 a day, since she’s been sharing her thoughts. Thanks for rallying more troops against Titan. Also, wanted to let everyone know to stay tuned for a new post on the website about what the public can do on the EIS scoping meeting and some new information we just learned about what we can do now to weigh in on the Air permit process. New info. should be up tonight or tomorrow. Also, like to clarify there’s really no comparison between the proposed plant in Castle Hayne and Titan’s other two plants (as I’m sure Sarah knows). The one Titan wishes to build here is almost twice the size of Roanoke and will emit much more pollution. Roanoke’s ecology is vastly different, which makes our argument much more effective, esp. during the environmental impact statement and other permits (wetlands, mining and required water permits). Finally, communities have fought and won this battle before. Wilmington, despite our commissioners, is primed and ready to take on Titan. Sadly, our area has been overloaded by too much industrial development and the resulting pollution, as commissioner Nancy Pritchett stated during the June 2nd meeting. Titan has been a well-needed wake up call for us all. What’s good about this is how many folks can agree on how bad Titan is for Wilmington. We’ve got support from every sector, demographics, political party, age, gender, even developers have contacted us to offer their support. There’s many angles to fight this on and we’re looking at them all: legislative, political, informational, health, environmental, more public forums, etc. Bottom line is this: There’s nothing new about this battle. Always going to be these issues in any town and community. Good thing is this issue has broad consensus of opposition and fast-building momentum. Anyway, don’t give the nay-sayers a thought–they are in a small minority– keep up all the good work and check in with the site later for the new updates.
I’d like to thank the input of Sarah as well. She has singlehandedly ‘cemented’ my firm opposition to this Titan Cement Kiln operation. From the previous comments here I’ve gleaned enough search topic information available through the web that have shown me the REAL dangers that we as a community and region will face with a polluting industry like this here.
Sarah, you did your job really well!!!!! Congrats on that promotion…oh wait, I’m sorry you were fired.