(These remarks were made at an EPD hearing on Aug. 4
in Brunswick.)
Good evening and a special thanks to Jeff Cown and his staff
at the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) for hosting this public hearing
in Brunswick. Coastal Georgia is the
area that will be most threatened by inevitable toxic coal-ash leaks from
Broadhurst.
When you are traveling back and forth from Jesup to
Brunswick, you pass through Gardi. Years
ago, Dr. Douglas Jackson of Gardi Baptist Church told me the 5 Bs of a good
talk:
Be brief, brother, be brief.
This is my fifth time giving public comments on Republic
Services’ proposal to dump millions of tons of toxic coal ash in Wayne
County. I’ll keep my remarks brief, but,
Mr. Cown, I’ll submit my full comments to your department before the Aug. 10
deadline. We really wish you’d extend
that comment period. The only people who
will benefit from a hasty adoption of these not-strong-enough toxic coal-ash rules
are the companies and people who stand to reap enormous profits from turning
Coastal Georgia into America’s largest toxic coal-ash dump.
Tonight,
I’ve brought with me a plumber’s wrench, because it reminds me of what Junior
Burns told me 40 years ago, “Son, the first two
things a plumber must know is: The hot goes on the left and the stuff runs
downhill.”
Well, my friends of Glynn, McIntosh and Camden counties, you
are directly downhill from Broadhurst.
When those heavy metals, such as beryllium, vanadium, arsenic, lead and
mercury, leak from the thin plastic liners such as this one, trouble is headed
your way. The Altamaha River empties around Little St. Simons Island, and the Satilla
River flows into St. Andrew Sound.
If that’s not scary enough, Broadhurst, with its porous,
sandy soil, sits atop the Floridan Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to
millions of us. Ask the people of Flint,
Mich., what part of the lead in their drinking water isn’t hazardous.
Woody Woodside of the Brunswick-Golden
Isles Chamber of Commerce said the Golden Isles attracted 2.6 million visitors
in 2015, boosting the local economy an estimated $1.2 billon. How many thousands of jobs do those visitors
support? Do you think those visitors
want to run the risk of eating contaminated seafood or drinking polluted water? Don’t you think Glynn County has had enough
environmental issues to deal with lately?
Our seventh grandson, Smith Wilson, is 3. He peppers me with questions, such as: “Are
we going to feed the catfish in the lake tonight, Grandpa, yes or no?” And he repeats, “No or yes, Grandpa?”
I ask you: Are you
willing to risk our water, our air, our quality of life, our economy and our
reputation over the dangers of toxic coal-ash pollution? Yes or no?
What’s your answer: no or yes?Can you repeat that a little louder?
That’s what we must continue telling the United States Army
Corps of Engineers, the Georgia EPD, the DNR board and Republic Services: No,
no, no!
We need to throw a monkey wrench … just like this one … into
this fast-moving proposed rule-change process.
We must slow down. This is our chance
to get it right. Fix what is
broken. You don’t solve one problem by
creating another. We need stronger laws
to protect us. Weak laws allow bad consequences.
Take a look at what’s happening—right now—on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp.
Almost 1 million tons of toxic coal ash is going to be dumped there.
Really?
Is that a testimony to common-sense thinking? That’s what you get with weak laws and
promises of protection from skinny liners like this for the next 100 years …
300 years … forever. Do you think your
grandchildren and their great-grandchildren will be safe from these dangerous
heavy metals? Yes or no?
Mr. Cown, thanks for hosting this hearing in Brunswick
tonight. And to the good people of
Coastal Georgia, I want to share five of the most important words you can ever
say to someone. I’d like for you to
stand. And as you turn to the person on
your left and right, repeat after me:
I AM PROUD OF YOU!
Indeed, I am proud of you for being here tonight and your
commitment to stand up for the protection of the people we love and the place
we love—Coastal Georgia.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
