FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 20th 

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
1-800-852-5593

Sen. Julia Boseman Introduces MORATORIUM on Cement Plant Permits!

Echoing a growing chorus of public opposition to the proposed Titan cement plant in Castle Hayne, Senator Julia Boseman introduced a bill today calling for an 18-month moratorium on cement plant permits in North Carolina. Senate Bill 699 calls for a legislative study commission to research all the impacts of cement plants before any permits are issued. A public hearing on the bill has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 24, at 11 AM. A bus-load of Titan opponents will be there to lend their support.

Citizens have sent more than 900 emails to legislators asking for the moratorium, and more than 2000 emails to the Department of Air Quality and other state officials asking to delay issuing Titan's draft air permit until adequate regulations are in place to protect the environment and public health. More than 3,000 citizens have signed a petition opposing the plant.

The most recent petition to surface includes more than 200 health care providers, including 125 doctors from New Hanover and Pender Counties, who are opposed to the proposed cement plant, which would be one of the largest polluting facilities in the state. The petition is the brainchild of Dr. Fred Opper, a prominent gastroenterologist in Wilmington.  The proposed plant and associated limestone mine would have the fifth highest mercury emissions in the state (263 pounds per year), and would pump out hundreds of thousands of tons of criteria air pollutants that contribute to smog, haze, and ground-level ozone, as well as numerous heavy metals, some of which are known carcinogens. The plant would also destroy more than 1000 acres of wetlands along the Northeast Cape Fear River, and be located within five miles of numerous schools with estimated enrollments of 8,700 students.

For more information on the proposed plant and its potential impacts on public health and the environment go to: www.stoptitan.org.

For a link to the Star-News story on the moratorium, go to:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090319/ARTICLES/903191995/1177