by Keith T. Barber
Despite the glaring absence of officials from Titan America LLC — which is proposing to build the nation’s fourth largest cement manufacturing facility on a 1,868-acre tract in Castle Hayne — more than 250 concerned residents convened at the Northeast branch of the New Hanover County Library on Tuesday night to participate in a public forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Lower Cape Fear and the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) on the pros and cons of the cement giant coming to the area.
Donn Ansell of WAAV radio, the forum’s moderator, read an opening statement addressing Titan’s absence at Tuesday’s forum. Ansell explained that CONA’s negotiations with Titan officials broke down on Aug. 5, when the Greece-based cement manufacturer officially declined the invitation to participate, stating the forum was not the right setting for them.
The forum’s panel was composed of Cape Fear Riverkeeper Doug Springer; Tracy Skrabal, a senior scientist for the North Carolina Coastal Federation; Dr. Larry Cahoon, a University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) biology professor; and Joel Bourne, founder of stoptitan.org.
Staff photo by Allison Breiner
Moderator Donn Ansell holds a microphone for Giles Singleton as she poses a question about Titan America’s plans during a forum on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Northeast Regional Library. |
Bourne said Titan’s backing out of the forum speaks volumes about the company’s unwillingness to answer the hard questions from New Hanover County residents who will be severely impacted by the pollution the facility will pump into the environment.
“This is the second opportunity they have passed up to take questions from the public, who are going to have to experience their pollution for the next 30 to 50 years. I think it shows the kind of company they are,” Bourne said.
In June, a public forum at UNCW on the impact of the Carolinas Cement Company, the Titan subsidiary that would mine limestone and manufacture cement on the banks of the Northeast Cape Fear River, was canceled when Titan officials pulled out at the last minute.
Cahoon said Titan’s actions underscore the secretive nature of how the company controls information and the manner in which it came to the region in the first place.
On April 21, the New Hanover County Commissioners passed a resolution to offer Titan America LLC a $4.2 million economic incentive package to build a cement plant in Castle Hayne. Scott Satterfield, CEO of Wilmington Industrial Development, otherwise known as the Committee of 100, said negotiations to bring Titan to the area began more than three years ago.
“My view is that Titan America has conducted the process of coming into our community all wrong,” Cahoon said. “It was done with secrecy. It was done with dishonesty and a complete lack of transparency. I think our elected officials and shakers and movers in the community have been complicit with that.”
The 90-minute forum covered a broad range of topics on the plant’s potential harmful impact on the region’s environment. The subject of Titan’s request to discharge up to 263 pounds of mercury per year into the atmosphere dominated much of the discussion Tuesday night.
Cahoon said any industry that discharges mercury is simply not a good fit for New Hanover County.
“In wetland habitats, in those kinds of ecosystems, bacteria in the water convert (mercury) into the methylmercury form, which is remarkably toxic and is passed up the food chain,” Cahoon said. “A wetland type ecosystem like we have all around us is the worst place to put mercury in the air.”
Titan is requesting a permit to mine a site that includes 600 acres of pristine wetlands. Springer pointed out that section of the Northeast Cape Fear is already designated as impaired by the state due to mercury contamination. Bringing Titan to the area would only exacerbate the pollution problem.
Springer said Titan’s mining operations could compromise the Castle Hayne aquifer, which supplies much of the county’s drinking water. Once an aquifer is contaminated, there’s no going back, Springer said.
“We need to do what’s best for the world, and let’s do it here on the Holly Shelter corridor,” Springer said.
Bourne addressed the issue of three schools being within a 5-mile radius of the proposed Titan Cement site, stating that the secretive nature of the process circumvented safeguards that would protect schoolchildren from being exposed to harmful pollution.
“If this had gone through the planning department, they would have known there was a school site there, they would have known there were kids in the area, and we could have had some kind of county buffer zone around this,” he said.
A new elementary and middle school currently under construction on Holly Shelter Road (approximately 2 miles from the proposed cement plant) will eventually house 1,400 students.
Springer said his face-to-face meetings with Titan officials have borne little fruit, and his position that the company should not come to the area has only hardened in the past few months.
State Rep. Sandra Spaulding Hughes said she met with Marino Papazoglou, director of business development for Titan America, and was not satisfied with his answers to her concerns. Hughes encouraged those in attendance who oppose Titan coming to the area to write and e-mail their concerns to their county and state representatives.
“People power can change things,” Hughes said. “I say to you, fight for what we want, and if we don’t get the information, we need to demand the information.”
