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Local crowd largely supportive of mining operation’s preferred site
Environmental groups urge look at alternatives to protect wetlands
By NIKIE MAYO, News Editor
CHOCOWINITY — Supporters of PCS Phosphate’s preferred mining-expansion site turned out in droves Thursday night to talk about the company’s importance to the area, while site opponents called for careful consideration of alternatives.
A public hearing at Southside High School, part of the permitting process as PCS seeks to continue mining operations in Aurora, lasted just over four hours. The Army Corps of Engineers sought comment on “how the proposed project would affect people,” said Penny Schmitt, a spokeswoman from the Wilmington district office.
With the help of a digital egg timer, each speaker was limited to two minutes. Supporters of the company’s “applicant-preferred” site just north of its current operations outnumbered opponents by at least a three-to-one ratio.
“PCS is vital to our area and to our little towns,” Belhaven Mayor Adam O’Neal said.
“This past Monday night the Belhaven Town Council passed a motion unanimously in support of PCS. And if you knew Belhaven, you’d know what a big deal that is,” he said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd.
Opponents of the company’s preferred expansion site contend it will have detrimental effects on the environment. A review of the site’s environmental consequences is necessary because it impacts 2,400 acres of wetlands.
“Today, Pamlico-Tar River Foundation requests that the Corps deny (permits to) the applicant-preferred alternative and find an alternative that truly is the least damaging,” PTRF Executive Director Mary Alsentzer said.
“We believe there may be another, possibly yet-to-be-defined alternative that would meet the company’s ... need and better protect the environment,” she said.
Again and again, speakers talked about PCS being “a good neighbor” — donating to charities, providing scholarships to students and employing about 1,000 people, most of them local.
“Without PCS, many people could not live here,” said Beaufort County Commissioner Robert Cayton. “Now people can live and settle and have a good job. ... They make our museums better, our libraries better ... They help us go beyond our boundaries to help others.”
The company accounts for 15 percent of Beaufort County’s tax base, said Commissioner Stan Deatherage.
Commissioner Jerry Langley agreed that the company does “do wonders for the tax base,” but also spoke about his personal observations.
“My baby brother works there,” he said. “You can go out there and look at places where work has been done and you’d never believe there was a hole in the ground there before.”
Beaufort County Manager Paul Spruill, taking a cue from O’Neal, said “it takes the holiday season” for all Beaufort County commissioners to agree on something, and they, too, are supportive of PCS. “If a less practicable alternative is chosen, Beaufort County loses,” he said.
In the permitting process, sites are considered in terms of their Corps-termed practicability. A site’s designation as “practicable” means it has passed a myriad of tests, Schmitt said. One of those tests is cost-effectiveness. “But it’s not a straight up-and-down economic question,” she said.
While many people spoke of the company’s impact on the region, some talked about its scope close to home.
“If PCS so much as hiccups, the citizens in this community feel it first,” said Aurora Commissioner Clif Williams.
The public hearing put a couple of usual allies on opposite sides of the fence. Former Beaufort County Commissioner Carolyn Harding and Bath resident Frances Armstrong are both staunch opponents of the Navy’s proposed outlying landing field on the border of Washington and Beaufort counties. But Thursday night, Harding spoke in favor of PCS’s hoped-for site, while Armstrong spoke against it.
“Texasgulf, now PCS, helped us get jobs not involving corn, cotton, tobacco fields or picking cucumbers,” Harding said. “Some of the same people who are opposed to their site were also opposed to Cypress Landing and held it up for years.”
Armstrong said she had lived in Beaufort County for 25 years and couldn’t stomach the preferred site’s impact to wetlands.
“We’re looking at 10 different types of wetlands that work together here,” she said. “Another alternative should be used.”
The company says work at Parker Farm and Whitehurst Creek demonstrates the success of its mitigation and reclamation efforts. Every acre of wetland destroyed will be replaced with two, according to the company.
Derb Carter, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said he was speaking “on behalf of the river” Thursday night. SELC also handles the legal opposition to the proposed OLF.
Carter said PCS’ preferred site would create “unprecedented wetland destruction” that would not be reversed when mining operations cease. “I encourage you to think about tomorrows,” he said.
PCS President Tom Regan described the company’s mission as a balancing act. “We have to balance a lot of things,” he said in an interview before the hearing began. “We are looking to produce a quality product at a reasonable cost and obviously, we’re concerned with the environment. We have to be so that we have the capability to stay around for, we believe, as long as 40 years.”
Hearing comments will be considered as the Corps prepares the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project, Schmitt said.
The public may submit written comments until Jan. 27, 2007. Schmitt said there was no set timetable for issuing the final impact statement. “Something in the comment period may cause us to go back and ask for more information from the company,” she said. “When we do that, we don’t give them a set time to respond.”
By NIKIE MAYO, News Editor
CHOCOWINITY — Supporters of PCS Phosphate’s preferred mining-expansion site turned out in droves Thursday night to talk about the company’s importance to the area, while site opponents called for careful consideration of alternatives.
A public hearing at Southside High School, part of the permitting process as PCS seeks to continue mining operations in Aurora, lasted just over four hours. The Army Corps of Engineers sought comment on “how the proposed project would affect people,” said Penny Schmitt, a spokeswoman from the Wilmington district office.
With the help of a digital egg timer, each speaker was limited to two minutes. Supporters of the company’s “applicant-preferred” site just north of its current operations outnumbered opponents by at least a three-to-one ratio.
“PCS is vital to our area and to our little towns,” Belhaven Mayor Adam O’Neal said.
“This past Monday night the Belhaven Town Council passed a motion unanimously in support of PCS. And if you knew Belhaven, you’d know what a big deal that is,” he said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd.
Opponents of the company’s preferred expansion site contend it will have detrimental effects on the environment. A review of the site’s environmental consequences is necessary because it impacts 2,400 acres of wetlands.
“Today, Pamlico-Tar River Foundation requests that the Corps deny (permits to) the applicant-preferred alternative and find an alternative that truly is the least damaging,” PTRF Executive Director Mary Alsentzer said.
“We believe there may be another, possibly yet-to-be-defined alternative that would meet the company’s ... need and better protect the environment,” she said.
Again and again, speakers talked about PCS being “a good neighbor” — donating to charities, providing scholarships to students and employing about 1,000 people, most of them local.
“Without PCS, many people could not live here,” said Beaufort County Commissioner Robert Cayton. “Now people can live and settle and have a good job. ... They make our museums better, our libraries better ... They help us go beyond our boundaries to help others.”
The company accounts for 15 percent of Beaufort County’s tax base, said Commissioner Stan Deatherage.
Commissioner Jerry Langley agreed that the company does “do wonders for the tax base,” but also spoke about his personal observations.
“My baby brother works there,” he said. “You can go out there and look at places where work has been done and you’d never believe there was a hole in the ground there before.”
Beaufort County Manager Paul Spruill, taking a cue from O’Neal, said “it takes the holiday season” for all Beaufort County commissioners to agree on something, and they, too, are supportive of PCS. “If a less practicable alternative is chosen, Beaufort County loses,” he said.
In the permitting process, sites are considered in terms of their Corps-termed practicability. A site’s designation as “practicable” means it has passed a myriad of tests, Schmitt said. One of those tests is cost-effectiveness. “But it’s not a straight up-and-down economic question,” she said.
While many people spoke of the company’s impact on the region, some talked about its scope close to home.
“If PCS so much as hiccups, the citizens in this community feel it first,” said Aurora Commissioner Clif Williams.
The public hearing put a couple of usual allies on opposite sides of the fence. Former Beaufort County Commissioner Carolyn Harding and Bath resident Frances Armstrong are both staunch opponents of the Navy’s proposed outlying landing field on the border of Washington and Beaufort counties. But Thursday night, Harding spoke in favor of PCS’s hoped-for site, while Armstrong spoke against it.
“Texasgulf, now PCS, helped us get jobs not involving corn, cotton, tobacco fields or picking cucumbers,” Harding said. “Some of the same people who are opposed to their site were also opposed to Cypress Landing and held it up for years.”
Armstrong said she had lived in Beaufort County for 25 years and couldn’t stomach the preferred site’s impact to wetlands.
“We’re looking at 10 different types of wetlands that work together here,” she said. “Another alternative should be used.”
The company says work at Parker Farm and Whitehurst Creek demonstrates the success of its mitigation and reclamation efforts. Every acre of wetland destroyed will be replaced with two, according to the company.
Derb Carter, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said he was speaking “on behalf of the river” Thursday night. SELC also handles the legal opposition to the proposed OLF.
Carter said PCS’ preferred site would create “unprecedented wetland destruction” that would not be reversed when mining operations cease. “I encourage you to think about tomorrows,” he said.
PCS President Tom Regan described the company’s mission as a balancing act. “We have to balance a lot of things,” he said in an interview before the hearing began. “We are looking to produce a quality product at a reasonable cost and obviously, we’re concerned with the environment. We have to be so that we have the capability to stay around for, we believe, as long as 40 years.”
Hearing comments will be considered as the Corps prepares the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project, Schmitt said.
The public may submit written comments until Jan. 27, 2007. Schmitt said there was no set timetable for issuing the final impact statement. “Something in the comment period may cause us to go back and ask for more information from the company,” she said. “When we do that, we don’t give them a set time to respond.”
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tunne rat wrote on Jul 6, 2009 8:55 PM:
that is the biggest propganda word that every came out of butterfields and rino jones mouth in the past hundred years .
just 2 water boys for the obama socalist party , and a hand full of red necks that dont have a clue about whast they are talking about . "