Contact The NC Legislature, please

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You can find a list of members of theLegislature (NC House and NC Senate) at this site:

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/members/memberList.pl?sChamber=Senate

NC Senator Clark Jenkins (Edgecombe) has introduced a bill calling for a Moratorium Imposed on New Landfills. The bill (if made into law) would block the permitting of any new landfills for two years while the legislature studies current rules and decides how to strengthen them. The bill would also appropriate money to do a study of landfills in low-lying areas and other landfill hazards and how to strength current laws governing landfills in the state.

THIS BILL HAS ENOUGH EXCEPTIONS THAT IT WILL NOT BE DETRIMENTAL TO MOST CURRENT LEGAL LANDFILLS. See Below.
There is also a provision somewhere in the Current Budget Committee to collect a "tipping fee" for every ton of garbage dumped in North Carolina. I think that these are issues which should be considered separately.

Courts have ruled that garbage is a commodity that states cannot stop from crossing their borders. That has led to the growth of interstate shipments to places with more open space. There are several applications for landfills pending in NC at this time. The largest one is proposed for Camden County. This massive dump could be over 200 feet high and would have the capacity to bury 3 million tons of trash a year for up to 27 years. It is proposed for a 490 to 704 acre site just 3,000 feet from Hwy, 17. This pile of garbage will probably be visible for quite a distance.

http://www.waste-ind.com/camden/articles/BlackBearFactSheet.pdf

The Raleigh N&O reports that Gov. Mike Easley's budget proposal suggests a $2-per-ton statewide fee on solid waste, which would generate about $20 million. Part of the money generated by the fee would be used to help clean up about 700 inactive landfills and some abandoned polluted industrial sites across the state and provide grants to local governments for cleanups.
North Carolina currently charges no fee for trash disposal. Gov. Easley's fee proposal would include all trash disposal in North Carolina, not just imported trash.

An entire copy of the bill (S1575) can be found on the North Carolina Legislature web site.

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2005/Bills/Senate/HTML/S1575v1.html

Short Title: Moratorium Imposed on New Landfills/Funds.
(Public)
Sponsors: Senators Jenkins; Albertson and Purcell.
Referred to: Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources.

S.1575 will block any new approvals until January 2008, providing time for a study commission to examine how to improve siting, bonding, and operations of landfills to prevent the degradation of rural communities and the natural environment. Of course there are some exceptions in the proposal.

. . . "SECTION 2.(b)  Exceptions. – The moratorium established by subsection (a) of this section shall not prohibit consideration of an application for or issuance of:
(1) A modification of a permit for an existing permitted landfill.
(2) A permit to expand an existing permitted landfill if the proposed facility boundary will provide no more than five years of disposal capacity.
(3) A modification of a permit to reflect a transfer of ownership of an existing permitted landfill.
(4) A modification of a permit to provide for a substantial change to the waste stream described in a permit in effect as of 1 May 2006 for an existing landfill.
(5) A permit for a sanitary landfill used only to dispose of waste generated by a coal?fired generating unit that is owned or operated by an investor?owned utility subject to the requirements of G.S. 143?215.107D.
(6) A permit for a sanitary landfill determined to be necessary by the Secretary in order to respond to an imminent hazard to public health or a natural disaster . . .

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WHAT DO YOU THINK ?? LET YOUR REPRESENTATIVE KNOW ! ! !
Should we allow North Carolina to become the dumping ground for garbage from the entire East Coast? North Carolina's location on the coast makes it an easy dumping place for trash traveling on barges and by rail up and down the Atlantic Coast.

Kilowatt Ours:

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Announcing the NC Kilowatt Ours Tour with Filmmaker Jeff Barrie July 15-22!

You are invited to a FREE showing of Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America, a discussion with filmmaker Jeff Barrie, and an exhibit of energy-related products, services and information on clean energy in NC.

Join the American Lung Association, Carolinas Clean Air Coalition, Environmental Defense, NC Conservation Network, NC Council of Churches, NC Solar Center, NC Sustainable Energy Association, NC Warn, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy on this tour across the state!

Kilowatt Ours is a wonderful movie that follows the quest of conservationist and filmmaker Jeff Barrie to document the negative consequences of coal and nuclear energy production while teaching consumers about renewable power and how to increase energy efficiency to save on their utility bills.

NC Tour Dates & Locations:

July 16 Wilmington-FREE
UNC Wilmington Cameron Auditorium


July 17 Fayetteville-FREE
Army’s Airborne & Special Operations Museum


July 18 Raleigh-FREE
NC Museum of Natural Sciences


July 20 Winston-Salem-FREE
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art


July 21 Charlotte -FREE
Myers Park Baptist Church
P!

July 22 Hendersonville-FREE
Blue Ridge Community College

For more information about the film please visit: www.KilowattOurs.org

For information

Together, we can help spread the message that efficiency and conservation are the cleanest and most cost-effective sources of new energy for North Carolina and that vast energy reserve will benefit our economy and environment, and ought to be tapped to its fullest potential.

Another Dangerous Old Dump

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Even though there are many restrictions and regulations about landfills, the long-term effects of current landfills is unknown. Please ask the NC Senate and House to pass the moratorium on landfills in NC until more studies can be done.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports that "N.C. State University is spending millions of dollars to clean up a site near the RBC Center and Carter-Finley Stadium where it dumped hazardous waste for 11 years.

Chemical contamination leaking from the old landfill has spread into groundwater and bedrock beneath Wade Avenue. The cleanup will take decades."


The chemical contamination is leaking from a landfill used by NC State's Science and Agricultural Research labs to dispose of waste.The site was used before there were US regulations restricting chemical waste.

The R&O report says that the contamination is spreading slowly toward Richland Creek, a tributary of the Neuse River. The site, which has been on the Superfund list of the nation's most polluted sites since 1986, poses no immediate risk to area residents who don't get drinking water from underground wells.

R&O also reports: ..."Michael Townsend, project manager for the EPA, said the site had been studied for more than 20 years, and the pump and treat method outlined 10 years ago had been delayed for years at the request of the university.
No new waste is being disposed of on the site. Nowadays, the university ships its hazardous and chemical waste -- about 100 tons a year -- to landfills and companies that recycle some of the chemicals, Townsend said."


From Raleigh News & Record report at:
http://www.newsobserver.com/150/story/455387.html