Titan Americas Cement

And they weren't that impressive to begin with:

More than likely, based on averages, there will be fewer people hired than originally expected, and the average salary will be lower," Craig Galbraith, a professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Cameron School of Business, said during a presentation of the study Tuesday night at WHQR in Wilmington. "It's my general feeling that the impact is probably lower ... and possibly even negative."

I'd say more than possibly. Thousands of people are employed in recreational/hospitality jobs associated with tourism, and thousands more in the seafood industry, both of which will be negatively impacted by air pollution and doubling-down on methyl mercury exposure to fish. It's a bad idea all around, and it's not too late to stop it.

Join the ranks of those who oppose this poisonous blight:

According to data on toxic and hazardous air pollutants listed in Titan Cement’s current air permit application, Titan will be one of the largest sources of air pollution in our region. In New Hanover County, we estimate that Titan will be the largest source of benzene and polycyclic organic matter—pollutants associated with causing cancer in humans – and the second-largest source of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, lead, arsenic, ammonia, beryllium and selenium.

And it will also be a huge emitter of atmospheric mercury, effectively raising the entire state's mercury emissions by a whopping 10%:

It's still a miscarriage of justice, nonetheless:

"Prior to today's mediation, we had not personally met and spoken with Dr. Hill and Ms. Darrell," Titan said in a statement. "Having done so, we do not believe that either Dr. Hill or Ms. Darrell intentionally made any false statements about Titan or our plant in New Hanover County.

Here's a little request for you Republican "reformers" in the General Assembly: Why don't you take a break from kow-towing to corporations, just for a day or two, and pass some legislation that will protect citizens from the un-Constitutional suppression of their 1st Amendment right to free speech. It might make your efforts to grant a "get out of court free" card to big pharma seem less sleazy, in the overall legal reform "big picture", as it were.

Who are dealing with the same kind of crap we are, only worse:

Two trucks driven by local men delivered provisions such as sugar, oil and rice to hungry citizens in exchange for signatures and personal identification information. Ahmad told Lumina News he believes that Titan will use the list as a petition to show community support for the cement plant

For you anti-regulation, "let business do what they see fit" free market rosary bead thumbers, pay attention to what steps Titan is willing to take to get what it wants:

Here are the where's & when's:

The first two hearings will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 27 at the McKeithan Center on the North Campus of Cape Fear Community College, 4500 Blue Clay Road, Castle Hayne. The third hearing will be held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 29 in the Kenan Auditorium at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 S. College Road.

And here is the permit itself (chubby pdf):

If the GOP can abuse the word, so can I:

Rep. Carolyn Justice, R-Pender, is making a last-minute attempt to delay the issuance of state air quality permits for Titan America by amending a bill with language that would accomplish that.

While her reason for doing this may seem rather Republicanish, she actually makes a good point:

You can breathe the polluted air, drink the tainted water, eat the mercury-laden fish, but don't open your yap and complain about it:

Titan America LLC and Carolinas Cement Co. LLC have sued two New Hanover County residents charging they made defamatory and untrue statements about Titan's push to obtain permits to build a cement plant in Castle Hayne.

The slander complaint, filed Feb. 25 in U.S. District Court, seeks more than $75,000 in damages. On Feb. 28, the case was selected for mediation.

I expect to see the liberty-lovin', Tea Party, don't-tread-on-me-flag-wavin' folks up in arms about this. Oh, that's right, they get their marching orders from AFP and FreedomWorks. Nevermind.

The greased pig slips away again:

A freeze on the state's review of the project's air permit had been issued this summer as environmentalists challenged whether the project's use of public money in the form of $4.5 million worth of local and state incentives should trigger the more stringent review process required under the N.C. Environmental Policy Act, otherwise known as SEPA.

But Carolinas Cement, Titan's local subsidiary, announced in November that it would decline the incentive funds. That, Wake County Superior Judge Donald Stephens ruled, removed the SEPA requirement.

Taking SEPA off the table is a setback for environmentalists opposing this toxic nightmare, but there are some new realities facing Titan in 2011:

This news just made my week:

While the regulations issued Monday are slightly less stringent than the standards first proposed in 2009, they are much lower than the 263 pounds of annual mercury emissions Titan would be permitted to release under existing regulations.

According to the final rules, Titan's plant will only be allowed to release 21 pounds of mercury per million tons of clinker, the cooked stone product used to make cement. The plant proposed for Castle Hayne is expected to produce 2.19 million tons of clinker per year, which means the mercury limit will be roughly 46 pounds each year.

:)