Boseman letter to Perdue re: Titan Cement

Retiring Senator spells it out for the Governor:

I hope this letter finds you well. I feel compelled to write to you with a request that protects the health and safety of thousands of school children and general citizens of southeastern North Carolina. The point of discussion: Titan America. I understand your position of economic development and the need of jobs for our citizens. I support that position as well, but I am hoping that the State will be far-sighted enough to demand that the jobs we seek and the business partners we look to recruit will be sound, viable, environmentally safe members of our community. I have a strong sense of suspicion that is shared by many other North Carolinians, and that is that Titan is not looking out for our best interests.

It is appalling that Titan America is using every maneuver possible to avoid a State Environmental Protection Act review (SEPA). Hiring an army of lobbyists to flood the General Assembly, going to court and losing the decision, accepting state incentives and then rejecting that money to avoid review. The fact that they will not submit to an official SEPA leads one to ask many questions. Most pressingly: why not undergo the proper channels of environmental evaluation when you have stated that you will follow all the laws, rules and guidelines of the EPA? Why have they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on propaganda, lobbyists, and legal fees to avoid the required analysis? As you are well aware, I have opposed the building of the cement plant from the beginning. There is good reason to be wary of an industry that has known carcinogenic and toxic outputs, yet is willing to pay thousands of dollars to circumvent review rather than spending good money on protecting the surrounding communities.

My constituents, including over 400 hundred doctors and medical professionals, thousands of parents, a growing number of businesses and many professional members of the environmental community, are in agreement that this cement plant is being aggressively pursued on a short-sighted vision. Jobs for now, yes, but decades of polluted waterways, wetlands, and air for the good folks of North Carolina to contend with once Titan America has made their millions and left us behind.

It is imperative that the air permit for Titan America be postponed until the SEPA review requirements are satisfied through the required NEPA review (the Department of administration has already determined that the NEPA review will satisfy SEPA and will result in no delay of the permit decisions from the comprehensive federal review). The Governor of our State must be willing to look at all the facts and put the citizens first. Titan America will be a welcome partner if they would just follow the rules and undergo the environmental review process that our State created to protect its people. I would greatly appreciate your support of this request.
Sincerely, Julia Boseman

I don't have much to add to that, other than the observation that these reviews are meant to inform. Inform citizens and their local and state government leaders of what environmental impacts can be expected from the operation of this facility.

If our elected officials take the position it's better to not know these things, and to ignore the reams of evidence demonstrating the damage that Portland-style cement plants have caused elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad, and to turn a blind eye to Titan's attempts to make a mockery of our government and its procedures, they're not just being negligent in their duties, they are actively and intentionally working against the best interests of the people. That's not hyperbole, it's fact.