Selective assaults on industry Posted July 24th, 2012 at 8:19 PM by Bob Smith An international company with property in Castle Hayne, N. C. accepted $25 million of “state incentives” promising to invest $700 million and hire about 900 workers. The company plans to use a mined natural resource and “sensitive technology” to produce a potentially dangerous product requiring an impact study mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Public hearings have been held, according to a Wilmington StarNews report. (link)
Sound familiar?
Yes. For more than 3 years we’ve had demands for “answers”; criticisms and accusations; scares about public health hazards; and legal actions against another company that has been defined by some of the conditions cited above, except for some major differences: Carolinas Cement Company refused to accept tax “incentives; it is not involved with any dangerous products; and it doesn’t operate in secrecy.
Environmental group advocates have kept up an unrelenting assault on the CCC through the Stop Titan Action Network. (link) However, they’ve been strangely silent about plans by GE Hitachi to build a “revolutionary” plant in Castle Hayne to enrich uranium.
Where are the condemnations from the N. C. Coastal Federation, the Riverkeeper Alliance, Pender Watch, the Sierra Club and the Southern Environmental Law Center? Why the selective assault on the cement industry and no comment on plans for nuclear production by GE Hitachi?
Managers, staff and spokespeople for Carolinas Cement have been open and honest about every aspect of their proposed operation and vow to follow all state and federal regulations. Manager Bob Odom sends out monthly updates and other information for all to see. (link)
In the case of GE Hitachi, the environmental impact study has been completed—with no comment from the environmentalists—and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may approve the plant on recommendations from the Atomic Safely and Licensing Board for a “40-year license to operate the plant.” But, according to an NRC spokesman, “There will be no more public comment about the plant or technology.” “The last major review,” writes the StarNews reporter “will take place behind closed doors.”
When will we learn of environmental advocates protesting and litigating through a Stop GE Action Network? Why have they selectively attacked the cement industry and ignored others? Could it be that the cement company is an easier target because of the openness and honesty of its people, while GE is protected from intense scrutiny by federal regulators? Who knows? What we do know is that the environmental agenda is masked and suspicious.
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