TMCnet News
City, residents renew call for environmental study [The Wilson Daily Times, N.C.](Wilson Daily Times (NC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 02--The city of Wilson and residents opposed to Sanderson Farms locating in Nash County are asking the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to require an unbiased, comprehensive environmental assessment of the proposed project. Campaign Connections, a public relations firm hired by the city and residents in Nash and Wilson counties, issued a press release Wednesday calling for a deeper environmental review and involvement of DENR. The request, which has been made before by the city and others opposed to the project, comes two weeks after Wilson leaders met with the governor. Gov. Bev Perdue met with Wilson leaders, including the mayor, city manager and economic development director, in an effort to understand local concerns about the company and its chicken processing operation. Wilson leaders are concerned about environmental impacts of the plant, its wastewater spray field and area chicken farms and the impact on area water supplies. Perdue, who invited city officials to her Raleigh office, asked Mayor Bruce Rose to try and mediate a solution to an ongoing legal battle Wilson launched against Nash County that challenges how the county commissioners approved rezoning for property being considered by Sanderson Farms on N.C. 97. A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Nash County and the city is appealing two lawsuits in the N.C. Court of Appeals. Rose agreed to try to work toward a solution and the city's attorney was prepared to mediate after receiving approval from the city council. That process stalled, however, after the Nash County manager publicly disclosed details of a settlement offer, which was previously declined, made to the city. Attorneys for the city say the disclosure broke confidentiality. A Nash County attorney disagrees because the negotiations were after the city turned down the settlement offer. The press release issued by Campaign Connections includes concerns that Nash County's environmental impact statement, completed in March, falls short of assessing the Sanderson Farms project. "The city of Wilson, residents in Nash and Wilson County and over 40 other municipal and industrial users in the watersheds of the Tar Pamlico and Neuse rivers are demanding that the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources perform a comprehensive and unbiased environmental impact study before any decisions are made on the proposed Sanderson Farms chicken slaughterhouse in Nash County," according to the release. The proposed Sanderson Farms plant is on hold after Joe Sanderson Jr., chief executive officer, announced in February a delay for the company's next plant due to the rising cost of grain used to make chicken feed. Sanderson officials have not announced a location but are considering properties in Nash and Wayne counties. The call for a detailed environmental review has been asked, in past months, by the city of Wilson, residents, leaders of Wilson's pharmaceutical companies and the Neuse River Compliance Association. "The only environmental impact study completed to date is a superficial report completed by a civil engineering firm seeking grant money dollars that came with a $42,000 price tag paid for by Nash County," said Jennifer Lantz, executive director of the Wilson Economic Development Council, in the release. When asked about the press release, Nash County Manager Bob Murphy said he wasn't aware of it or any new request for DENR involvement. Nash County's draft environmental study was completed by The Wooten Co. The study was prepared for state review, but Nash leaders withdrew its request for a review after learning that the Economic Development Administration would not consider federal infrastructure grant requests until Sanderson Farms committed to locating in Nash County. Clark Wright, an environmental attorney representing the city of Wilson, is asking that DENR move forward with the environmental review process before Sanderson Farms makes a commitment to Nash County. "It is the duty and obligation of the State of North Carolina to protect the interests of all residents and all businesses, not just one possible new business that is seeking tax dollars to reduce its own costs, while ignoring major, long-term impacts to the entire region," Wright said. "The state must do its job now -- before irretrievable commitments are made. The only way to do that is to require an open, unbiased and comprehensive environmental impact assessment that includes a full analysis of secondary and cumulative impacts, including disclosure of worst-case scenarios, such as hurricanes, and that includes assessment of how the region could prosper without building this proposed facility." "If this study is carried out in a thorough, open and unbiased manner, we believe it will prove that the Sanderson Farms project is too much of an environmental risk, both now and, more importantly, in the future."Wright said that The Wooten Co.'s environmental study failed to detail the cumulative and secondary impacts, including how an increase in chicken farms in the region could impact the environment and area water supplies. He also said that the study does not take into account the increase of nutrients, from waste byproducts, added to the Tar Pamlico and Neuse river systems. [email protected] -- 265-7818 ___ (c)2011 The Wilson Daily Times (Wilson, N.C.) Visit The Wilson Daily Times (Wilson, N.C.) at www.wilsontimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |