Tick, tick, tick.
For 77 days. The clock has
been ticking since the general public learned Republic Services
intends to make Wayne County a national guinea pig for dumping this
much toxic coal ash in one spot. The slick slip-itin-the-backdoor
maneuver started on Jan. 4 with an application, in the name of
Central Virginia Properties, LLC, to the Corps of Engineers. The
Phoenix-based waste-management company was then mum, hoping the
30-day public-comment period would elapse before anyone noticed.
Nine days into the 30 days,
your newspaper rang the alarm bell. Just as Republic wooed our
officials with its sneaky, silver tongue in 2005, Wayne County was
about to get snookered— again. Without Neill Herring’s
telling Derby Waters what was up, Republic would have been toasting
its strategy on Feb. 4.
As we now know, coal ash is
toxic, containing dangerous heavy metals such as mercury, lead,
beryllium and arsenic. While lobbyists for coal-fired plants
negotiated to get coal ash labeled non-hazardous, we should find no
comfort in the EPA’s ruling. When people and the environment are at
risk, we need pit bulls, not lapdogs, on safety patrol. The
regulations should tilt in favor of the people, not the polluters.
Thanks to the public
outcry, along with strong support from Sen. Johnny Isakson, Sen.
David Perdue and Rep. Buddy Carter, the Corps has given the public
two extensions for comments. Still, there are dozens of unanswered
questions. Now, there should be another extension to include a
separate Corps-sponsored hearing. Wayne County has a right to know.
Unless the Corps grants an
extension, the deadline for submitting your comments is next week,
April 5.
Here’s what I wrote:
March
25, 2016
Mr.
John W. Derinzy
U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
Savannah
District
100
West Oglethorpe Avenue
Savannah,
Georgia 31401
Dear
Mr. Derinzy:
In my 67 years, I have
never seen my hometown this embroiled or united. Our citizens are
horrified. Jesup and Wayne County do not want its wetlands destroyed
so that Republic Services can install a massive rail spur. I am
grateful you were at the public meeting to hear the local voices,
too.
Wetlands are a crucial
part of our ecosystem, and what Republic has in mind will be
devastating to our environment. The Broadhurst Environment Landfill
is in a precarious location near the Little Penholloway Creek, which
drains into the Penholloway Creek, which flows into the Altamaha
River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Toxic pollutants will
go into our streams and groundwater if this rail spur is permitted.
Our air quality will be at risk, too.
Hundreds of families in
Wayne County drink shallow-well water because they can’t afford
deep wells. There is no way to candy-coat Republic’s
100-railcars-of-toxic-coal-ash-per-day plan to turn our community
into a trash bin for America. Destruction of the 25 acres of wetlands
will be a monumental and tragic step toward turning our county into
an environmental prostitute.
I know your major
concern is the wetlands issue. But if you approve this permit, the
consequences— intended and unintended—cannot be ignored. The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers holds our health and our future in its hands.
We are a rural county, a David, up against a multibilliondollar
conglomerate, a Goliath. Please, hear our pleas. Deny Central
Virginia Properties, LLC’s application.
Thank
you.
Sincerely,
Dink
NeSmith
Tick,
tick, tick.
The
clock is ticking.
Have
you sent your comments to the Corps?
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
