Many of our county and state elected officials refuse to accept their culpability with respect to enticing this polluting industry. The New Hanover County Council members claim that they cannot stop the project; however, they assure us that our community will be protected (and imply that the project can be stopped) by the regulatory agencies. The implication is that the environmental impact statement (EIS) reporting process, as part of the Corps of Engineers wetland permit application, will duly protect our health and well being. This page informs citizens of the mythology of this argument. The EIS will not be the "knight in shining armor" that will intercede on the community's behalf.
We urge all concerned citizens to contact the elected officials in New Hanover and Pender counties and state officials in North Carolina and demand that they protect us and prevent the most polluting industries from exposing our community to possible long term harm.
If Titan is allowed to proceed with the environmental permit process unopposed, the permit will be issued with perhaps a few special concessions for mitigation for their pollution. Will their minimally required mitigation protect your family's health and quality of life?
We must take immediate action to rescind all subsidies and enacting binding protection to our area from the most polluting industries.
You cannot count on the federal EIS to protect your health.
What the EIS Won't Do....
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and NEPA Myths
- The regulatory agencies can force a company like Titan to move its Carolinas Cement project out of the region.
- The public opinion process during scoping and other public meetings for the EIS can stop the Titan project.
- The NEPA EIS will ensure that the Titan Cement project is safely sited and stopped if it poses an environmental risk.
- The NEPA EIS can supersede the decisions made by local planning and zoning entities in New Hanover County and the state.
Assumption: The regulatory agencies can force a company like Titan to move its Carolinas Cement project out of the region.
Reality: FALSE. The regulatory agencies do not have the legal authority to direct a project proponent to a particular site or to assure that the "best" site is selected for a project. The EIS is an informational document that analyzes site alternatives presented by the applicant. This lack of authority applies to landfills, incinerators, shopping malls, residential developments, factories and most other types of human development. In simplest terms, the Corps and the state government have limited authority for deciding the appropriate use(s) of land. This responsibility, to the extent it has been established at all, resides with other units of government, typically local municipalities.
Reality: FALSE. The law limits the Corps' ability to factor public opinion into the permit decisions it makes. Permit decisions, must, by law, be based entirely on a technical analysis of whether or not the proposed activity would meet the applicable standards established in the laws and Administrative Rules. In these decision-making circumstances, there are so-called "public interest factors" that are taken into account in the EIS; however, public opinion is not one of the factors considered. Furthermore, public interest factors rarely, if ever, are a cause for permit denial, rather a discussion point for developing a mitigation strategy.
Reality: FALSE.
The public and elected officials often seem to believe a particular problem would be solved via the EIS process. These "particular problems" are usually some type of unwanted project being proposed for the neighborhood - a landfill, a shopping mall, or an industrial facility, for example. In reality, NEPA (the federal law authorizing agencies to require an EIS) provides an informational process - EIS's (and EA's) disclose impacts and look at alternatives. They don't stop projects; they don't approve projects; they don't modify projects. They inform. The influence this informational function has on a permit decision is directly related to the amount of discretion the Corps has in making that decision. To quote from a recent court case, "(N)EPA does not mandate particular results or particular decisions in individual cases but simply exists to ensure that adverse environmental effects of a particular project are identified and evaluated during the planning stages. The act does not prohibit unwise decisions, only uninformed ones."
Assumption
: The NEPA EIS can supersede the decisions made by local planning and zoning entities in New Hanover County and the state.
Reality: FALSE. For projects for which an EIS is prepared, it requires the agency to explain why it made a particular decision, what voluntary or enforceable mitigation efforts have been included in the decision, and what unavoidable environmental impacts may occur as a result of the decision. NEPA is not a land use law, and it cannot be used as a substitute for local planning and zoning decisions. NEPA is not a vote or a popularity contest, although public participation in agency decisions may result in changes to the proposal or further analysis of potential impacts. NEPA is not a permitting law.
Assumption
: The
NEPA EIS can stop the Titan Project.Reality: FALSE. If Carolinas Cement / Titan meets all of the requirements for receiving the permit, license, or other authorization to proceed and if the agency has conducted an adequate NEPA review, the agencies will issue the permit. Agencies are directed to work with permit applicants to add special mitigating conditions that will allow the permit applicant to meet the minimum environmental standards rather than deny the permit. If the industry agrees to the special conditions of mitigation, the project can begin. The federal and state laws and rules that authorize the proposed action also describe the requirements that must be met in order for the proposal to go forward or not. If they are met, the project goes forward. Compliance with NEPA and the identification of the proposal's potential impact on the human environment via the EIS are only procedural requirements.
Assumption: The project is no longer in the hands of the local government (New Hanover County) since the EIS process is underway.
Reality: FALSE. Address your concerns to the governmental body in the best position to deal with them. For example, facility siting and local permitting of the Titan plant and related land use issues are handled by the county government.
Encourage your local municipalities to adopt ordinances that make use of the NEPA/SEPA process or special referendum before enticing them in with tax incentives.