What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Green swamp

  • Thread starter swamplady
  • Start date
  • Tags
    conservancy
S

swamplady

Guest
I see the last posted message was from Ash, NC.  Ash is in the heart of the Green Swamp, a eco system 2nd in biodiversity only to the Great Rainforest (a quote from The Nature Conservancy).  The swamp was once filled with cp's as described in the Ash letter.  Industrial paper is unmercifully draining this 350,000 acres, has removed the native Long Leaf Pines and hardwoods found in its forested wetlands, and converted this once beautiful place to tree farms and heavy herbicide use.  There are currently two fronts we're battling here -- the draining and spraying AND a regional landfill in the heart of the swamp.   The landfill battle has been on-going for about 3 years.  We have now reached the point that much of the footprint is in a floodplain (thanks to the paper company's drainage) and it's illegal to put landfills in floodplains in NC.  Our legislators, however, weren't wise enough to omit a loop hole, one which the local county is trying to exercise by voicing a critical need and the fact that there's no other place not in a floodplain.  

I will be posting names and address to contact in the near future to help us save and restore this unique eco system so full of CPs.  In the meantime, you can check out our website at <swampwatch.org>.  

And Ozzy, you are right about burning that land.  If he doesn't do it every year or two, he'll lose them.  Nature used to do this for us, with thunderstorms in the spring; but we got too smart for that and put Smoky the Bear to work -- well, that's another whole can of worms.
 
Anybody that knows me knows how I feel about the Green Swamp. The reason I got the idea for this forumwas because I was trying to think of something I could do to get more people aware of what is happening there. I know some of you can't believe that I haven't already made a post here about it. I first wanted to get some info from Swamplady that I could post there. She decided to join and post the info, and I want to thank her for that.

The Green Swamp is alot more than cp's, but for now I'll focus on them. There is no place in the world that has more cp's. There is no place in the world that has more cp species. I know of  17 diffrent speciecs. They are Dionea muscipula, Sarracenia flava, rubra, purpurea, minor,  Pinguicula caerulea,  lutea, Drosea capillaris,  intermedia,  filiformis,  brevifolia, Utricularia cornuta,  juncea,  inflata,  purpurea,  subulata and gibba. There may be more but these are the ones that I have confirmed. I made a post about this in another topic sometime ago. Instead of typing it over I'm just going to cut and paste it here.


The Green Swamp is facing threats from many different sources. Some are the same as all other cp sites, poaching and development.
North Carolina has some very strict laws for poachers. Last time I looked it was $2000 and 6 months in jail for each incident.   That may not sound like alot but the thing is every plant you take is a separate offenses. Say that you only take 5 plants, 5 plants equals $10,000. That's enough to make you stop and think about it.
But with all that poaching still happens.
Southeastern NC is one of the fastest growing area's in the country. It's a very big tourist spot, It has the Atlantic Ocean and some very nice beaches and with Myrtle Beach just across the state line, thousands, if not millions of tourist visit the area every year. These people have to have places to stay, eat, shop and entertainment, so countless numbers of hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, golf courses, ect, ect, ect have just been built. I can't imagine how many cp's were and still are being bulldozed.
When most people hear the Green Swamp they think that it's very swampy. It's not. I'd say about 90% of it is pine savannas. So The International Paper Company bought most of The Green Swamp years ago, because pine savannas are perfect for growing pine trees. For years they have cleared the land, drained it and sprayed herbicides and pesticides from helicopters. Of course some of these chemicals drifted into steams and onto what remains of the green swamp. The scariest thing is when you walk in to the swamp and you think how quite and peaceful it is. Then you realize it's too quite, no birds, squirrels, deer. I have yet to see any live animal other than a few bugs there. This is the only wilderness place I have ever been to and not heard a bird singing. That's something to think about.
Look at the pic on this website.


The Green Swamp

When I saw this picture for the first time, It made me think of a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd called "All I Can Do is Write About It" There is a line in there that says:
And Lord I can't make any changes
All I can do is write 'em in a song
I can see the concrete slowly creepin'
Lord take me and mine before that comes

I now have those lines in my signature.

Notice the area with no lines in it. That's what's left of the Green Swamp. Maybe 2 by 4 miles. This swamp use to cover the SE North Carolina and NE South Carolina. And it's been reduced to this. This is about the only undisturbed area that's let of the Green Swamp. To the north and west you'll see land that has alot of lines through it. The lines are logging roads and that's the paper co. land. Of course their land stretches far beyond what this pics show. The ocean is to the south east so all the steams, with all the chemicals run through the Green Swamp on it's way to the ocean.
The landfill is the most immediate threat. They want to built it just NW of the nature preserve area. Keep in mind that the streams run S-SW to the ocean. It's about 3 miles upstream (If I remember right). They are required to have sheeting that will hold all the liquid and other waste inside the mound. The same company is under investigation for a barrier leak at other landfills that they own. It's the same barrier that will be used in this one. Ok let's say that the barrier in the other landfills didn't break and the one that'll be used in the Green Swamp works perfect and never breaks. They are designed to hold so much rain, I forget how much they are designed to hold. In 1984 the area had (I think) 19 inches of rain in 24 hrs.
It was during hurricane Dianna. That would have over flowed the landfill. In 1996 we had 2 hurricanes with in a month Bertha and Fran. I forgot the total rainfall but it was alot and it was enough to overflow the landfill. In 1999 there was 3 hurricanes that hit the area within a month and a half.  Floyd was the biggest, I believe we had almost 60 inches of rain. With Floyd dumping close to 30 inches within 24 hrs. That 3 times in 14 yrs that the landfill would have overflowed. Just imagine if the landfill overflows just once. All the chemicals, wastes, nutrients that the landfill holds will be released into the streams and ground water. All of this will settle in the soil. What's one of the most toxic things to cp's. Nitrogen. Think about how much nitrogen will be released, not to mention the other things like sodium. Another thing to thing about. How many landfill have you seen with out seagulls? The seagull population will explode after it is built. I believe that the seagull droppings will fertilize the area. Eventually killing the cp's.
Most of the land that you see undisturbed is owned by The Nature Conservancy. Thank God that they do or nothing would be left. They burn and manage the land, and try to keep it the way it's supposed to be, full of cp's. This is why I think the key to saving cp's are organizations like TNC and people privately buying sites to keep them from being developed.
If anybody wants to learn more about The Grenn Swamp, here are some website to visit.

http://www.geocities.com/greenswamp211/greenswamp.html

http://ccsenc.freeservers.com/

http://www.uhaul.com/supergraphics/flytrap/introduction.html

If you would like to explore the Green Swamp go to this site and you can zoom in and pan around.

The Green Swamp

If anybody would like to sign a petition to stop the landfill, contact me and I'll send it to you.
 
that's awful! why would they do something like that? drain a bog? Shame on them!
wow.gif
You should make an on-line petition, like the fear factor abuses snakes one. Much less hassle, and more people are more likely to sign it!
Good luck!
-Spec
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Spectabilis73 @ June 04 2003,8:48)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">that's awful! why would they do something like that? drain a bog? Shame on them!
wow.gif
You should make an on-line petition, like the fear factor abuses snakes one. Much less hassle, and more people are more likely to sign it!
Good luck!
-Spec[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I totally agree, Spec! The one thing you should change about your statement is after: that's aweful, shame on them! You should put:
icon13.gif
icon10.gif
mad.gif
sad.gif
instead of
wow.gif
that way you get your point through! J/K
tounge.gif
wow.gif
, I just had to add something good to all this bad!
rolleyes.gif
sad.gif
biggrin.gif
smile.gif
alien.gif
tounge.gif
wow.gif
 
The use of land like the Green Swamp for pulp paper tree farming is increasing and will increase exponentially.  There are some understandable reasons, and one of the biggest is the demand for toilet paper.  It's a commodity that most consumers don't want to do without, and I doubt that it's going to change.  Our feeble efforts will not stand in the face of the Demon Money.  Where there is demand, there will be supply.

Still, I am more than willing to open my mouth wide and bellow where bellowing is called for.  I don't have to like it, and I DON'T.  (Personally I would rather pay 1.00 for a roll of toilet paper).  I did some good bellowing regarding the cow depradation of the heterophyllous Darlingtonia population so well illustrated by Barry on his website, and I DO believe that had an impact.  In some cases we CAN make a difference with our collective complaints.  I hope the Green Swamp will prove to be one of these instances.

Swamplady, I doff my Stetson to you!  I nominate you for the CP-ulitzer Prize to be awarded at the First International PFT Barbeque and Plant Exchange Extravaganza......well, even if that never happens, I bless you for your efforts on behalf of us that are, and those that are yet to be!!  I know what inspires you, for it is in me as well.

It's an honor to have you as a member of the PFT Forums.

Do not let them "go gentle into that good night"!  Rage!  Rage against the dying.......  Don't let it be said by posterity that "no one cared".

In the LONG run, it will all work out.  In terms of geologic time, issues of mass extinction are not new scenarios.   No species thrives but at the expense of another established population.  It is survival of the fittest at work.  We continue to place stress on ecosystems incurred by our own species success, and the rubber band is stretching tight.  At some point, it will snap and these systems will again return to a balance evolved over millions of years.  I fear the repercussion will take its toll on our own populations, but the wonder of the Cosmic Design will bring up new forms out of Creation.  When I am bitter over the losses I am powerless to prevent, this is my comfort.

But for Now, there is work to be done!  Let's Rock!
 
It's nice to find a place where people as obsessive-compulsive about conservation as i am are able to commune. I wrote a letter to the park service over that D. californica scandal that Barry wrote up, too, Tamlin, and i was impressed how eager they seemed to do what was necessary to come out looking good. I have the petition from Ozzy, and was trying to get the local Greens chapter to sign it, but i guess they're all too busy graduating or something. I'll keep trying.

Is there a responsible party we can write to, like in the case of the Darlingtonia?
 
Tamlin I agree with what you said. We all need and use paper. But there should be a line in the middle, we need and have to have paper and we need clean drinking water, we need to keep at least part of the Green Swamp alive. The line in the middle was set by the NC lawmakers. Swamplady has shown me proof of time after time the paper company breaking law after law. And she has shown me pictures of aftermath of the broken laws. (I'll let her tell you the evidence, if she fits to.) And worst yet, I heard the results of the broken laws in the silence of the the Green Swamp. No animals anywhere.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Is there a responsible party we can write to, like in the case of the Darlingtonia?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yes. That is one of the ideas for this forum, Somebody list any names that they have and we all respond. Swamplady is getting a list of the names and address and she'll post them here.
 
someone should put a pettion online and have everyone type there name on it. then send it somewhere it will be heard.
 
Things in the Green Swamp continue to be negative. FEMA floodplain maps show no floodplain in the area of the proposed landfill, though FEMA says their mapping is very general and not the type used for such specific purposes. Studies funded by Waste Management found 30% of the footprint in a flood zone. WM and its frontmen want the state to accept the FEMA maps. We all find it surprising that an area in the heart of a swamp known to be a floodplain suddenly isn't when the rest of the state is experiencing constant flooding.

Another major concern is the spraying of pesticides. NC is moving to legalize drift (6ppm) and the EPA is now considering changing the labels currently banning use over water or where water may be present to exempt tree farms. Tree farms in forested wetlands such as the Green Swamp have thousands of miles of draining canals, all carrying polluted water to the coastal estuaries where our oyster population dropped 90% last year and crab population dropped 95%.

Our website can be found at <www.swampwatch.org>. There's a new section on statistics that will show the plants and animals are not the only ones suffering.

I have two sheets of contacts but perhaps the best might be the governor and the Environmental Management Commission along with some local papers (letters to the editor). Politicians go with the flow. So far, big money is doing all the talking. They need to hear from the people and lots of them. We'd appreciate any message you can send -- let them know there's something here worth protecting and that environmental laws need to be enforced.

Governor Mike Easley, 116 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27603 [Citizens hot line 1-800-662-7952]

Charles H. Peterson, Chair - EMC Water Quality Committee
232 Oakleaf Drive, Pine Knoll Shores, NC 28512

The Brunswick Beacon, P. O. Box 2558, Shallotte, NC 28459
Wilmington Star News, PO Box 840, Wilmington, NC 28402
News Reporter 127 W. Columbus St., Whiteville, NC 28472
 
  • #10
I hate to read such bad news. How can they say it's not in a flood plain? Anybody who say's that sure wasn't there in '84  when there was massive flooding, '96 when there was massive flooding, and defiantly not there in '99 when the 2nd most costly natural disaster in US history. Over a billion dollars of damage in the last storm alone.  I was there for all 3 event's. I didn't even mention all the yearly flooding that for some reason gets worse and worse. I think I know why it keeps getting worse. All the draining of the Green Swamp. The water use to absorb into the ground. Now it just floods all the new drainage ditches.
I'm going to cut this reply short for now. I'm getting to mad.
We all know what we need to do. We have the address now lets send petitions and letters. This is what this forum was created for. Let's make our voices heard. Don't stand by and let one of the greatest cp site die.  
mad.gif
 
  • #11
Update -- The state Div of Solid Waste rejected the landfill application last Friday.  Today a news article comes out saying the Div asked WM to expand and resubmit their application for the landfill in the Green Swamp near the Waccamaw River.  Meanwhile, the floodplain maps are still in limbo, with a public comment period coming up shortly.
 
  • #12
Hi all,

Reigel Ridge plans to resubmit their application for the dump.

In the meantime, we have just learned the FEMA comment period is already open -- the public comment period on the new FEMA maps opened last week, and runs through Christmas eve.  There will be a public meeting sponsored by FEMA on Oct. 21st at 6:30 at the Columbus County Courthouse Annex for the purpose of FEMA formally presenting the new maps and for them to field questions/comments.  Although one can make comments anytime during the comment period, this meeting will be an opportunity to deliver them personally in a public setting with media coverage.

For those having comments or contentions regarding the new maps, there is a formal appeal process to have additional information considered.  The only criteria in considering additional input is what is "best available information", as determined by FEMA reviewers in Raleigh and independent
reviewers in Washington.  Importantly, the county  commissioners do not pass judgment on whether any proposed revisions are actually made to the FEMA maps.  They can refuse to incorporate the finalized maps into the county ordinances, but this would make the county ineligible for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Additional information regarding reasons for revising the FEMA maps will be in an subsequent postings.
 
  • #13
So what do we need to do. If you can think of anything that we can do let us know.
 
  • #14
That is horrible
mad.gif


I will also help in any way I can.
 
  • #15
I just recieved two letters from Gean Seay about a trial that was held in North Carolina regarding this landfill.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]  We've been in court down here, challenging the 401 certificate for Riegel Ridge.  I'll send you a copy of the report I did on it.  The trial lasted four days and there won't be a decision for maybe 2 months.
Trial Report:
The trial ended Thursday afternoon.  No decision was rendered.  The judge instead asked for a summary of findings and conclusions including case law from each attorney to be in his hands within 30 days following their receipt of a transcript of the proceedings (which is estimated to take from 3 to 4 weeks).  At that point, each side has a 7-day period to respond.  
In the last day of the trial, a couple of interesting facts were revealed.  William Dreitzler, engineer and one of the principles of Riegel Ridge Landfill Consortium (later renamed Riegel Ridge Environmental) admitted that they had a contract with Waste Management from February of 1999 and that the Columbus County Commissioners were aware of it, something both parties have consistently denied.  There is no question now that Waste Management wants this site for New York waste.  They hold the New York contract.  The NY landfill was closed just before 9-11 and a $54 million marine barge/export facility was constructed for waste with no place to go.  Virginia's landfills are leaking and closed.  We're next down the line and the US Supreme Court has ruled several times that refusing out-of-state waste violates the Interstate Commerce Laws.  Once a private landfill is open, federal laws will force it to accept toxic waste from any place as long as it's delivered to a transfer station within the 100-mile radius.  Although no permit to construct has been issued, the state has not only upgraded bridges and roads leading to the site but have actually paved miles of dirt roads through the swamp that were traveled by only a few people a day, all leading from Highway 17 to the landfill site.  We have also recently heard that land has been purchased for a barge landing somewhere near the new bridge expected to lead to Midway Road on Highway 211 -- a straight shot from there to the landfill site.
Dreitzler signed the 401 Certificate Application as representing Reigel Ridge and never mentioned Waste Management; and he has yet to furnish this relationship in writing to the NC Division of Water Quality (not notifying the Division of any changes is a violation of the 401).  He will be reported to the licensing board for Professional Engineers for this breach in ethics.
One of the landfill's chief witnesses on the last day was Ralph Heath.  He testified under oath that a swamp was the best place in the world for a landfill of any type because any contamination would leak into the upper groundwater levels or drain into a nearby water body (such as Honey Island Creek) and move away from the site down the Waccamaw River.  He testified that should four hurricanes back to back hit the landfill and devastate it, it would be of little concern because Honey Island Swamp to the North and upstream of the site consists of 25 square miles and the flooding from that area would dilute it so well that there would be no problem.  He also felt an event of this type would only add about a foot more water to the site.  On the subject of borrow pits (holes from which they would take dirt to cover each day's waste deliveries), he testified that the hole should be dug far enough down to open the aquifer so that rain and/or flooding could fill this hole and "recharge" the aquifer.  (Keep in mind that this removes any natural filtering process from the water cycle and that the area is widely sprayed with a barrage of toxic chemicals by the paper industry.)  He made light of Dr. Stanley Riggs' testimony and yet admitted that his only visit to the area had been that morning when he "drove a ways down Highway 211 and very, very carefully observed the level of water in the ditches."  Dr. Riggs, of course, spent five years studying the Waccamaw Drainage Basin for the State and testified a landfill in the middle of the swamp would be a disaster.  Dr. Riggs further testified that the swamp needed immediate attention if our area was to retain the economy and quality of life our water resources now afford us.  
[NOTE: As an observer and victim of the 500-year flood, I had a lot of trouble with Mr. Heath's testimony.  I fail to understand how he can recommend opening an aquifer for drainage when the health department has a fit anytime your well is covered by any kind of flood water, let alone pesticide contaminated water -- and that's a well that's sealed!  And although the current toxic spraying of the swamp is in violation of the Clean Water Act and the pesticide regulations of our state, it is a practice they continue to turn a blind eye to and one that will likely continue until enough people demand it stop.  As for hurricanes adding a foot of water to the site, Floyd brought 20" of rain and that 20" became 26 feet in our area because the industrial drainage system in the swamp sends it down on us like a 50-foot water slide.  It would be nice if we all lived in a bubble, protected from the world outside; but let's face it, that's not reality.]
I must say the saddest thing about the whole trial was having to look across the courtroom at an agency created and paid for by citizens to protect the citizens of North Carolina as it sat in the same corner with industrial polluters and to watch them smiling and patting each other on the back as witnesses like Mr. Heath testified.  
Gean Seay

The next letter is parcial testimony from Ralph Heath for the landfill. Gean
seay also added her opinion to his comments.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]For a good laugh -- or cry as the case may be, from my notes on hydrologist Ralph Heath's testimony the last day of the trial:
     >He has not been involved in siting any landfills BUT has given 18 lectures across the country on how to do it.
     >Said you should not put hog waste in aquifer recharge areas; but place it where it will run off in streams and rivers so runoff won't contaminate deep aquifers. (Didn't say what this would do to recreational water or estuaries downstream)
     >Kept pronouncing Reigel as Rye'-gull.
     >Continually pronounced Waccamaw as Wack'a-maw.
     >Said the Wack'-a-maw had NO water shortage.  This is something the fishermen and homeowners would be surprised to hear.  Many of us have seen the river where you could walk down the river bed half a mile and never get your feet wet, and Dr. Riggs' 5-year study was funded by the state because they were worried about the river drying up.
     >Said covering 100 acres with a plastic liner would reduce the aquifer recharge by 32,000 gallons, all of which could be made up by digging through the confining layer of the borrow pits into the aquifer so that rain and other waters could recharge the system directly.  Said not piercing this layer would actually impede the recharge of the swamp. He didn't venture an opinion as to what the presence of toxic residue throughout the pine plantations would mean to the surficial aquifer.
     >Said evaporation was better than transpiration and that the borrow pits (if dug into the aquifer) would mean the landfill would actually improve the aquifer.
     >Said it was absolutely impossible for contamination to move through the aquifer into the water supply of Lake Wack'-a-maw (the well is 10 miles to the west).  A hydrologist told me that would depend on the drawdown of the town well, which would naturally increase in times of low water tables.
     >Said if anything, the landfill was OVER protective of the surface water and the groundwater, an excellent plan.
     >Said the 25 square mile Honey Island Swamp behind the landfill would flood and dilute any contamination should a disaster occur.  I'm not certain that Honey Island is 25 square miles.  Our records show the entire Green Swamp to be approx. 35 square miles and I don't believe Honey Island covers that much area.
     >Said 4 hurricanes back to back would most likely not produce more than a foot of water on the landfill site.  
     >Said he had not visited the actual site but had "ridden a ways down Highway 211 that morning and very, very carefully observed the depth of water in the roadside ditches and it was what he expected."
And this man was Waste Management's wetland expert.   He would have been credible maybe 40 years ago but hopefully not today.   
 
  • #16
Oh, this is not encouraging news at all!  
mad.gif
 I say we all meet at Green Swamp & stage a sit in.  Climb a tree.  Throw our bodies in front of bulldozers.  Something!  Obviously, I don't know just what it is we can do.  Write to North Carolina's legislators?  And say what?  
Anybody?  
rock.gif

If nothing else, perhaps we might like to see it while it is still there...    
sad.gif
 
  • #17
Latest news.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Swamp dump now up to state

In a sane world, the state of North Carolina would laugh in the face of anybody who asked to pile a mountain of trash in a swamp.

It would laugh even harder when it learned that the dump would endanger birds, plants and animals that are found only in that region.

And it would dissolve in tears of hilarity when it was reminded that hurricanes often pass by, pouring oceans of water onto the site. It’s best not to think about the kinds of stuff that would float out, some of it oozing from Columbus County into Brunswick.

Yet one state agency has already given its go-ahead to this mad scheme for the Green Swamp. So has the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If the Division of Solid Waste caves in, too, the only way to block this craziness apparently would be to go to court.

The waste-disposal corporation that wants to trash Southeastern North Carolina for profit has won over most Columbus County Commissioners in the usual way: with money for the county’s coffers. It would be welcome, without doubt.

But look at the cost.

Worried that flocks of sea gulls attracted to Mount Trashmore would drop unwelcome gifts into nearby Lake Waccamaw, the Corps of Engineers says the dump company must come up with a plan to prevent the bombardment.

Diapers?



http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps....0321027
 
  • #18
Big Update::::::

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Posted on Thu, Jul. 13, 2006
email this
print this
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Senate votes to suspend landfill projects in N.C.
By Mike Baker
The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. - A Senate committee Wednesday unanimously approved an 18-month moratorium on new landfills to give state officials time to study the impact solid-waste disposal is having on North Carolina.

Waste management businesses are planning four major landfills around the state, including one in Brunswick County, which have the potential to double North Carolina's waste capacity.

"We all know that landfills are an integral part of the state and of economic growth," said Sen. Clark Jenkins, D-Edgecombe, the bill's sponsor. "However, we've got to take a look at these mega-landfills before we move forward."

One facility in Camden County would take in 10,000 tons of garbage each day from all along the East Coast and as far away as Michigan. Currently, the state landfill with the highest volume of waste is the Charlotte Motor Speedway facility, which takes in about 3,500 tons per day.

Elizabeth Self, a lobbyist for the environmental advocacy group Sierra Club, said the new projects would turn North Carolina, which is now a net exporter of trash, into the fourth-largest waste-importing state.

"North Carolina is poised to become the destination of choice for trash along the East Coast of the United States," said Jim Stephenson, policy director for the North Carolina Coastal Federation, an environmental group concerned with issues along the waterfront. "These mega-landfills pose serious environmental, ecological and economic impacts."

All the major facilities - in Camden, Brunswick, Hyde and Columbus counties - are currently under review.

While House Speaker Jim Black has said representatives will consider the proposal, he questioned the state's decision to halt existing reviews.

"There's some companies that have made significant investment in North Carolina and we let them get pretty far along [in the process of planning a new landfill]," Black said of concerns about the moratorium's legal ramifications.

And while landfill opponents said the trash could contaminate groundwater supplies and harm fragile ecosystems, Greg Peverall, a consultant for Waste Management, said the landfills instead protect the environment by safely storing trash. He added that some N.C. landfills will reach capacity over the next decade.

Dexter Matthews, the director of waste management for North Carolina's Department of Natural Resources, said the bill's exceptions allow existing landfills to expand, which will help the state meet its needs during the moratorium.

The Senate, which is expected to bring the bill to the floor Thursday, originally wanted to add the landfill moratorium in the budget.
 
  • #19
I hope this forum will eagerly support a project I've been laboring over the past few years. I spent 4 years teaching at one of the UNCC campuses and developed this documentary while living in NC. I met with lots of the people who know the swamp--Ozzy, Dr. Mellichamp, Becky Westover...the list goes on. Lots of good footage, but lots more needed to take this to where I think it needs to be. I hope you'll follow the progress as this continues. I'm at Purdue University now, where I'm receiving unprecedented support for the work. The school will certainly give the initiative a much greater visibility, so I soldier on. Here's the link to the film's FaceBook Fan Page. Please follow the progress, and please, please encourage those you know who should support this to do the same.

Thanks! DC 'Oz' Osman

http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheGreenSwampDocumentary
 
Back
Top