Titan America (Carolinas Cement) has turned down a $200,000 state grant to upgrade a rail line to its proposed site after state officials informed the company that such public funds might trigger a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review of the project. SEPA requires a full review of all environmental impacts before the state issues any permits for the proposed facility.

This is the third time in recent months that Titan, a multi-national cement conglomerate based in Athens, Greece, has modified its plans to build the fourth largest cement plant in the U.S. along the Northeast Cape Fear River near Wilmington, NC. Each change removed conditions that would likely force a SEPA review. The first modification was made last fall when Titan changed the boundaries of their proposed limestone mine to avoid destruction of 600 acres of coastal wetlands that federal and state agencies described as “Aquatic Resources of National Importance.” Titan has also removed barge equipment from its project. The use of a barge to transport materials between the plant and the port would require upgrades to the old Ideal Cement dock that could also trigger the state environmental review.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2009
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TITAN HAS PERMIT PROBLEMS IN FLORIDA AND NORTH CAROLINA

Florida Judge Cites Threats to Miami Well Field and Aquifer
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Asks for Air Permit Delay
Citizens Send Thousands of Emails Demanding Delay, Moratorium
“We can import cement. We can not import clean air and water.”

Titan America, LLC, which wants to build the fourth largest cement plant in the nation near Wilmington, NC, is having increasing difficulty getting new permits for its proposed plant and keeping permits for its existing plant and limestone mine in Florida.

On January 30, U.S. District Court Judge William Hoeveler invalidated Titan’s mining permit in Florida’s Lake Belt region for the third time, blasting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to adequately analyze environmental and health risks to the aquifer, the sole water supply for a million Miami residents. Titan was one of several mining companies in the Lake Belt to have their permits immediately revoked. The lengthy lawsuit began after Dade County officials found benzene, a dangerous carcinogen, in a well field close to the mines. New Hanover County’s new $48 million well field and water treatment plant is approximately five miles from Titan’s proposed mine site.

According to Titan, their Pennsuco mine is the fifth largest in the U.S. and it feeds their Medley, FL, cement plant—WHICH IS SMALLER THAN THEIR PROPOSED CASTLE HAYNE PLANT. Titan has said they plan to appeal the ruling. Read all about it in the Miami Herald:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/885010.html

MEANWHILE in Castle Hayne, NC….

The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission on January 23, voted unanimously to send a letter to the North Carolina Division of Air Quality (DAQ) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, asking to delay issuing any permit before the comprehensive federal Environmental Impact Statement is complete, and all the impacts on fisheries are known.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090123/ARTICLES/901232998

The Commission’s letter comes on the heels of a similar letter to DAQ from Senator Julia Boseman and Representative Carolyn Justice, who also stated that the decision to allow Titan to get out of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process might be illegal. That letter came after citizens from around the state sent more than 1,200 emails to regulators and elected officials raising the same concerns through www.stoptitan.org.

Last fall, Titan negotiated its way out of SEPA, which would have required the EIS to be completed (an 18 to 24 month process) before any state permits could be issued. As a result, Titan could receive their draft air permit any day now. Once that permit is final, Titan can legally begin construction of the fourth largest cement plant in the nation before any impacts on our air, water, fisheries, wetlands, or public health are known!

Citizens fed up with Regulators, Ask Legislature for Immediate Moratorium:

--In his response to citizens’ emails, Keith Overcash, director of DAQ stated: “EPA has already issued its proposed new rules on cement plants,” and Titan would have to comply. Not true. According to EPA officials, new rules for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants will come out March 31, 2009 that could force Titan to slash its mercury emissions by 80 percent. BUT If Titan gets its air permit before the new rules are published in the Federal Register in April, the proposed cement plant will be grandfathered in as an “existing source” with much weaker standards. According the Wilmington Star News, Titan’s director of business development Marino Papazoglou emailed DAQ last fall urging them to issue the permit because: “we do not know what, if any, new regulations may be established by the new administration(s).”

--An estimated 8,700 students will attend schools within five miles of the Titan’s site, and a recent USA Today report shows our schools already rank among the worst in the nation in their exposure to toxic industrial emissions. Titan’s proposed plant will increase emissions of several pollutants tracked in the study, including known carcinogens like arsenic and benzene, while its mine will destroy 1000 acres of wetlands and risk contamination of the Pee Dee and Castle Hayne Aquifers, two primary sources of drinking water for New Hanover and Pender Counties.

Fed up with industry-friendly regulators and weak pollution standards for the state, several citizens and environmental groups in the Cape Fear Region are calling on state legislators to enact an immediate moratorium on any new cement plants until adequate regulations are in place to protect the environment and public health. They include Friends of the Lower Cape Fear/StopTitan.org, North Carolina Coastal Federation, Cape Fear Riverwatch, PenderWatch, and Cape Fear Climate Action Network. More than 500 emails were sent on the first day of the campaign.

“The more we learn about this industry, the more concerns it raises for our children, our environment, and the quality of life in our coastal communities,” says Kelly Stryker, one of the founders of Friends of the Lower Cape Fear. “We can import cement. We can not import clean air and water.”