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Thursday, January 13, 2011
News EPA pauses, but will Meck County?
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 2:37 PM
The EPA issued a press release early this morning stating they plan to take three years to study the pollution potential of biomass (aka incineration) plants. Question is: Will Mecklenburg County take the time to do the same?
This is interesting timing, since there is a meeting tonight about a proposed trash incinerator at the planned "eco-industrial" ReVenture Park.
Shannon Binns, of Sustain Charlotte, said this in response to the fed's delay: "EPA has caved to pressure from the biomass industry to avoid the litigation that would ensue if they proceed with regulating their emissions. They have essentially stuck their hands in their pockets for three years by making this decision to do nothing. As an EPA contact in this office admitted to me herself, a molecule of CO2 is a molecule of CO2 and to decide some must be counted and others not is indefensible from a legal and scientific perspective. They will likely be challenged in court for not upholding the Clean Air act as a result of this. Very, very disappointing."
Tonight, there's a community meeting about the proposed "eco-industrial" ReVenture Park. Currently, Mecklenburg County is trying to decide whether or not to sell our trash to ReVenture so they can, among other things, burn it. (Other things include sort for recycleables, which they'll sell, and the creation of refuse-derived fuel pellets, which they'll both burn and sell.) Additionally, the county plans to stop shipping plant-derived refuse (think tree clippings) from Compost Central, where it's currently burned in South Carolina, so ReVenture can incinerate it at it's proposed 20MW energy plant.
It's important to note that tonight's community meeting is being hosted by the ReVenture Park developers. After they apply for air quality permits for their incinerator, which is new and virtually untested technology (meaning, we have little to no data on what type and amount of pollution will escape its smoke stack), the government will likely host public meetings.
There are several reasons why this is a huge deal for Charlotte. 1) The promise of jobs. Here's the deal, though: The first jobs will be temporary construction jobs, and the next round of jobs at the biomass plant will go to the company that's building it. See, this is their first real run with the plant and they want to be there — for at least the first five years — to ensure everything runs smoothly. The other jobs? Well, if the incinerator isn't approved, the rest of the jobs may not materialize; and, 2) Air pollution. The American Lung Association already ranks Charlotte's air quality as the 10th worst in the country.
If you'd like to attend tonight's community meeting, it's at 7:30 p.m. at Cooks Memorial Presbyterian Church located at 3413 Mt. Holly~Huntersville Rd, Charlotte, NC 28216.
Further reading: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest year on record.
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.
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