If you let them, the naysayers
will drag you into a spooky pit of handwringing despair. That’s exactly what some thought was Wayne
County’s fate in January 2016. When
Republic’s toxic coal-ash plan hit the proverbial fan and blew controversy
across Coastal Georgia, a band of handwringers moaned, “There’s nothing we can do. You
are wasting your time to fight it.”
Maybe
so.
Maybe not.
By now, you
know I’m squarely in the maybe-not camp.
That camp has steadily grown as our modern-day David-and-Goliath battle
rages into its 15th month.
Because so many have stood up and spoken out, America’s second-largest
waste-management company has yet to haul another load of poisonous coal ash to
Broadhurst. And to Republic’s credit,
its leadership is listening. The corporate
folks in Phoenix still want that infamous wetlands-destroying rail spur, but
now they know the vast majority of Wayne County isn’t going to wilt under
big-money or political-muscle
pressure.
I have never
been as concerned for our people, our health and our natural resources. To balance that, I have never been more proud
of our community. Goliath might have
caught us napping, but we’re rattled awake.
Ditto for Georgia and the rest of the nation. Now, toxic coal ash is a lively topic in
Atlanta and Washington. Corporate lobbyists
are doing their best to twist lawmakers’ arms, but the public is twisting back.
We can’t give
up, and we won’t. The nation is watching
what’s going on in our backyard. Just
last week, another national journalist visited Wayne County to learn more about
our pushback against toxic coal and the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, who is
Republic’s major shareholder.
Others are
realizing that if this can happen to our small community, the same can surface
in Anywhere, U.S.A. As we toured a
Washington, D.C., reporter, she said our story can’t be covered in just one
article. It would take several. And I
said, “The more the merrier. People need
to know.” How did this news organization learn about our plight? An Atlanta friend contacted them and said: “You need to see what’s going on in Wayne
County.”
By now, you
know how the 39th president of the United States joined our fight. President Jimmy Carter sent a handwritten
appeal to Gates. The Microsoft
co-founder wrote a benign, brief, our-people-are-looking-into-it and
I’m-not-involved-in-the-day-to-day-operations response. I understand how he doesn’t have time to
micromanage his investments, but I don’t understand the contradiction to the
Gates Foundation’s public-health initiatives.
Two Saturdays
ago, President Carter gave Wayne County more thumbs-up support at the Friendly
Express on the corner of Highway 82 and Highway 110. As our older son, Alan, and his wife, Heather,
were driving to Jekyll Island, they noticed a gray Chrysler 300 sedan with a
black SUV, with a Sumter County tag, trailing behind it. “Heather,” Alan said, “that’s President and
Mrs. Carter.”
When the presidential
convoy turned into the convenience store, Alan wheeled in, too. He wanted to thank President Carter for his
support of Wayne County. But as he moved
toward Mr. and Mrs. Carter, Secret Service agents blocked Alan’s path, as they
should have. Undeterred, Alan called out
to identify himself. The president
walked over and shook his hand, offering don’t-give-up-the-good-fight
encouragement.
Wayne County,
we are not alone in our stance for what is right. Despite the odds, we cannot let the naysaying
handwringers drag us into a gloomy pit. Last
year, when I visited with Wendell Berry, noted author and environmental
advocate, the Kentuckian sent a note of inspiration. At the bottom, he wrote: “P.S. Don’t forget: David won.”
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
