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Brunswick Citizens’ Veronica Carter The Landfill Experiment
Veronica Carter is the current president of Brunswick Citizens for a Safe Environment, a grassroots environmental group that has taken the lead in opposition to the construction of an auto shredder residue (ASR) landfill in Brunswick County, North Carolina. Sims-Hugo Neu, a New York based scrap metal giant touted as a “green industry,” ran into a citizens opposition campaign when it set out to construct what it has described as a recycling center for ASR on a 750 acre tract at Navassa in Brunswick County. The BCFSE uncovered that the so-called recycling center would involve a landfill operation at which millions of tons of toxic “auto fluff” would be stored on a site close to the Cape Fear River, threatening property values and the livelihood of a fast growing community in addition to water quality in the Cape Fear. The North Carolina Coastal Federation recently acknowledged the efforts of BCFSE with a special award announced in Saving Our Coastal Heritage, A NCCF State of the Coast Report, p. 18. A New Yorker by birth, Veronica Carter is today a federal employee and a citizen activist with BCSFE.
Merbler: Your expertise seems to be what I would call sufficient. From your various degrees...? Carter: I’m not an expert in Environmental Science. I have a BA. in political science, and an M.A. in public administration. That’s what makes this fight interesting. I have asked the spokesperson for Sims Hugo Neu questions, that I did not receive a sufficient or timely answer. I felt like this social science major was “stumping” the expert and I became worried that either we were not getting the entire truth or we were part of an experiment. This site will be the largest of it’s kind and first of it’s kind in a coastal, hurricane prone area. Our group is diverse and comprises citizens from various backgrounds and socioeconomic status. We are working together as neighbors and friends to stop the proposed landfill. Merbler: And you worked with the military? Carter: I’m a retired U.S. Army officer. My career was in logistics, working with supplies, maintenance and transportation. Merbler: And BCFSE received an award? Can you be specific? Carter: We have indeed been recognized by the North Carolina Coastal Federation. We received the Pelican Award for Citizens’ Action on June 1. The Pelican Award for Citizen's Action recognizes the effective work of citizens, government officials, legislators, journalists, non-profit organizations, educators and researchers to improve environmental quality on the North Carolina coast. But it was really to acknowledge all the people who’d put in so much effort to stop the dump. Merbler: How would you describe the current situation with Hugo Neu? What is the current situation in the citizens’ campaign? Carter: We’ve come a long way in the last 2-3 years. We’ve gotten over six thousand written signatures for a petition and 2,000 additional on line signatures on our www.stopthedump.com website. Even more so—we have the potential to put a halt to Sims Hugo Neu’s “experiment” in our own backyards. Merbler: How? Can you explain what’s holding up Sims Hugo Neu? Carter: Yes, Sims Hugo Neu is in the permit process. That is a long process that involves both the Division of Environmental Resources (DENR) and the Army Corp of Engineers. In the interim, our legislators have three bills in the General Assembly. One is sponsored by Senator R.C. Soles, and another by Representative Bonner Stiller. Clark Jenkins, a senator from another area has proposed a moratorium on all landfills. Essentially, this will allow two years for the assembly to look at why North Carolina seems to be the dumping ground for New York, New Jersey and other states. The Soles and Stiller bills are essentially the same and take the zoning from the town of Navassa and turn it back over to Brunswick County Commissioners for a period of four years. The Jenkins bill calls for a statewide moratorium on all landfills while the General Assembly conducts more research. North Carolina has four pending “mega” landfills. If approved North Carolina would be number four in the country in landfills and dumps. Merbler: You describe it as an experiment. Well, how do you see that? Carter: When you first listen to Doug Clark, Sims-Hugo Neu’s spokesman in this, it sounds very good. But when you start asking questions, then you find yourself waiting to get direct answers. And you wonder when the answers are coming. We wanted to know about the materials being land-filled on the site. In fact only ten to fifteen percent of what comes into North Carolina will be recycled. Yet, technically, they can call it a recycling operation. What about the eighty-five to ninety percent that will be stored on the site? This will be the largest Auto Shredder Residue site in the country if completed. It will be the only the only one in a coastal area that is prone to earthquakes and hurricanes. The answers we received from Sims Hugo Neu left us with more questions. We’re still waiting for some of the answers. And when you find yourself waiting, you then start to feel like you are part of what really should be called an experiment. Merbler: Is there an economic side to this? Carter: Doug Clark, a spokesperson for the company, claims that many jobs will open up for the small economically deprived town. But how many unemployed environmental engineers will live there? How many actual jobs will go to Navassa residents? The company dangled a number of financial incentives including a new fire station, and it seems like a good idea. Well, Hugo Neu in reality is only protecting its investment. Although Doug Clark claims there have never been any fires from the company, I did my own research. Last year on Terminal Island, in the LA area, a plant did catch on fire and people had to evacuate over a twelve-mile radius. Wilmington would be affected by anything happening on this scale. Merbler: In what areas of the United States do landfills of this type exist? Carter: Research has indicated that lands next to African American and minority communities of low social economic status are targeted for waste dumps; that seems to be true of the all of the proposed dumps in North Carolina. Merbler: This is beginning to effectively sound like an economic racism perspective, is it? Carter: I personally believe it is the worst kind of economic racism, but don’t believe me, there have been studies conducted by universities. “Google” landfills and African American and minority communities see for yourself. Merbler: What would you like to say to people about this in closing? Carter: First, at what point, Sims-Hugo Neu, will you acknowledge that you are not wanted? There have been four bills in this year’s session of the General Assembly directed at keeping you out. Over 8,000 North Carolinians have signed a petition expressing their opposition. Several organizations and municipalities have passed resolutions against it. And finally, citizens and legislators need to continue to understand that a 350-foot pile of ASR, with the all of its potential environmental and economic distracters will have impacts even foreseen for our children. The top of a hill can be covered with grass and trees, but the first hurricane or flood waters could have dire consequences from this experiment”. What will be in our drinking water then?
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Photo by Merbler |
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Veronica Carter, the current president of Brunswick Citizens for a Safe Environment. |
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Carolina Civic Voice Summer 2006 Vol. 6, No 2 |