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North Carolina, the Old Trash State
In 2007, the General Assembly passed tougher rules for new landfills, giving eastern North Carolina community activists worried about out-of-state trash getting shipped to their counties a victory over the waste industry.
The law effectively shelved four proposed large landfills, including a potential site in Scotland County opposed by local farmer Marcus Norton. He's worried the project would give his area, already facing high unemployment, another strike against it.
"When you think of Scotland County, I didn't want people to think, `Oh, that's the location of the mega-landfill in eastern North Carolina,'" said Norton, chairman of a group that fought the proposed project. "Perception is real."
Now Norton, other rural activists and environmental groups are organizing again quickly after a bill moving in the Republican-controlled Senate could scale back many restrictions contained in the 2007 law. The law was passed when the legislature was led by Democrats.
The measure expected in the Senate Finance Committee this week comes as state regulators report there's been a 30 percent increase in capacity since 2007 at the 40 traditional landfills that take household garbage. Current landfills aren't projected to run out of space for nearly 30 years, according to the state Division of Waste Management.
The law effectively shelved four proposed large landfills, including a potential site in Scotland County opposed by local farmer Marcus Norton. He's worried the project would give his area, already facing high unemployment, another strike against it.
"When you think of Scotland County, I didn't want people to think, `Oh, that's the location of the mega-landfill in eastern North Carolina,'" said Norton, chairman of a group that fought the proposed project. "Perception is real."
Now Norton, other rural activists and environmental groups are organizing again quickly after a bill moving in the Republican-controlled Senate could scale back many restrictions contained in the 2007 law. The law was passed when the legislature was led by Democrats.
The measure expected in the Senate Finance Committee this week comes as state regulators report there's been a 30 percent increase in capacity since 2007 at the 40 traditional landfills that take household garbage. Current landfills aren't projected to run out of space for nearly 30 years, according to the state Division of Waste Management.
http://m.news-record.com/news/north_carolina_ap/article_5d5263cb-08cb-5ae6-a773-cc2c235f3ee2.html
Some economic activities don't pass the smell test:
"The bill is an engraved invitation for mega-dumps, mega-landfills to come into North Carolina," said Molly Diggins, the Sierra Club's state director, adding that "instead of focusing on how to have a balance among competing interests, it puts landfills first before people or natural resources."
Disposing of the trash generated by the most prosperous nation in the world is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and states with weakened environmental regulations are the favorite target of Big Trash.
And for those who would argue these landfills are necessary for our own wastes, and would not necessarily draw trash from other states, think again. This franchise application (previously and wisely denied) openly declares that 51 million people from seven states (including DC) would be served.
We've got enough of our own problems to deal with, we don't need to become the dumping ground of the Southeast.
"The bill is an engraved invitation for mega-dumps, mega-landfills to come into North Carolina," said Molly Diggins, the Sierra Club's state director, adding that "instead of focusing on how to have a balance among competing interests, it puts landfills first before people or natural resources."
Disposing of the trash generated by the most prosperous nation in the world is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and states with weakened environmental regulations are the favorite target of Big Trash.
And for those who would argue these landfills are necessary for our own wastes, and would not necessarily draw trash from other states, think again. This franchise application (previously and wisely denied) openly declares that 51 million people from seven states (including DC) would be served.
We've got enough of our own problems to deal with, we don't need to become the dumping ground of the Southeast.
http://www.bluenc.com/north-carolina-old-trash-state?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
Even trash has it's own lobbyists
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