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New Hill vows to fight plant Residents say there are better sites By Paul A. Specht, Staff Writer Ruby Mann has lived in New Hill since she was born 73 years ago. She remembers playing in the creek and breathing in the clean air in the field behind her house on Garris Road. It was a good way to cool off after the days she spent picking tobacco for the farmer just up the street. But the field --and perhaps the fresh air --may soon give way to a wastewater treatment plant. "I don't like it, but there isn't anything I can do about it," she said. New Hill residents vowed to fight the plant, which won a key approval last week. The $327 million plant would serve Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Holly Springs. The towns have been planning the facility since 2004. The project was intended to help the towns comply with a state environmental mandate, directed at Cary, Apex and Morrisville, to return water to the Cape Fear River basin and to keep pace with the towns' rapidly-growing populations. On Thursday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its final environmental approval for the site. The 85-page document endorses the site as the one that will have the smallest negative environmental impact, despite being near wetlands. It was considered a big victory for the towns. On Monday, New Hill leaders rejected the decision and vowed to fight against it. "There are better places with less human impact to put this plant," the Rev. James Clanton, pastor of the First Baptist Church New Hill, said in a prepared statement. "We ask the Western Wake Partners to reconsider dumping on poor communities of color and find a better solution." In the statement, Clanton and representatives from the New Hill Community Group and Southern Coalition for Social Justice claimed that there are more suitable places to built the plant. They complained that noise, odor, traffic and light from the project will negatively impact the New Hill Historic District. They said the decision never fully considered alternatives to the Cape Fear River discharge point. The decision "disregards the procedural, environmental, and racial issues raised in public comments," Chris, Brook, a lawyer at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, said in the statement. Brook, in an interview last week, indicated that a lawsuit could be forthcoming. He and Paul Barth, president of the New Hill Community Association, declined to discuss the legal strategy. Barth said his group may also appeal "environmental justice issues" through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Until the concrete is poured, we're not going to quit," Barth said. The towns now will seek several state permits for the project covering aspects such as transportation, air quality and construction. If approved quickly, the plant could be built by the end of 2013. "It's unfortunate that there's been some ill will, but I think the appropriate decision has been made in this case," Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly said. "The Army Corps of Engineers has left no stone unturned to investigate the concerns of the residents down there. ... Everybody obviously could not be satisfied with the outcome, but I think everybody should at least be satisfied with the process." Ruby Mann and her husband Willie, 69, have lived in their Garris Road house for 45 years. The fight reminds them of when the Shearon Harris nuclear plant was built down the road. "We knew it was going to happen," Willie Mann said. "But there isn't anybody who's happy about it." The Manns say they don't have money to move. "We have to smell it, breathe it, and have no fresh air," he said. aspecht@nando.com or 919-460-2600 © Copyright 2010, The News & Observer Publishing Company A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company

Controversial sewage plant receives green light by Shawn Daley After years of waiting, the Western Wake Partners finally received the green light to build a controversial regional sewage plant in the middle of New Hill. While plans for such a facility have been considered by state and local governments for more than eight years, the actual fight by New Hill to keep the sewage plant out of their community has lasted 62 months. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced its final decision last week by ruling that the towns of Cary, Apex, Holly Springs and Morrisville could build in New Hill despite the objections of its residents. Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly praised the decision as an important victory in the town’s long-term economic development. “We certainly believe the Corps made the correct decision,” said Weatherly. “Obviously, we need this additional sewage capacity to have future economic development in Apex. People will, hopefully, now have confidence to invest in our town once the economy turns around. We look forward to moving ahead (with the project) for the good of Apex.” The news of the decision was met with a bit less enthusiasm in New Hill. “We’re disappointed but it wasn’t unexpected,” said New Hill Community Association President Paul Barth. “That’s why we haven’t been sitting around doing nothing. We’ve been planning for this eventuality.” Not wanting to tip his hand with any specifics, Barth said the fight against the sewage plant is still not over. “There are still a couple of things we are looking into,” said Barth. “Our lawyer is reviewing different angles for a lawsuit. That is certainly still an option.” New Hill residents had argued that the sewage plant would have a negative effect on their community, especially on the many African-American residents who live near the chosen site. “There are better places with less human impact to put this plant. We ask the Western Wake Partners to reconsider dumping on poor communities of color and find a better solution,” said Reverend James Clanton, pastor of the First Baptist Church New Hill, in a written statement. But U.S. Army Corps District Commander Col. Jefferson Byscavage said the Western Wake Partners had taken enough steps in their planning to mitigate the worst adverse effects. He wrote that a 200-foot buffer around a state-of-the-art facility equipped with the latest technology would mitigate any problems with noise, light, odor or spills. “When all elements of the project are considered, no significant and adverse impacts are likely to fall on the affected (environmental justice) population,” wrote Byscavage in an 85-page report. “On balance, the total public interest would be best served by the issuance of a Department of the Army permit (for the chosen site). “I find that the proposed project is not contrary to the public interest, and that there are no practicable alternatives that meet the Project Partners’ purpose and need that have less environmental … impacts.” Weatherly said he was pleased the Corps had agreed with the Western Wake Partners about the chosen site. “I can’t say we would do anything different,” said Weatherly. “Now, I was surprised by the level of opposition in New Hill. But this is going to be a state-of-the-art facility that should mitigate their concerns.” Barth said the community was left to fend for itself by the Wake County Commissioners. “We never got any support from them and they are our only representatives,” said Barth. “They totally abandoned us. We supplied them with facts and figures years ago.” As for the upcoming months, Barth vows his group will fight on. “They know the site they chose was wrong,” said Barth. “The numbers don’t lie. They chose a site that has the greatest amount of impact (on residents). They know it in their hearts but they will never admit it. “We don’t plan on stopping until the concrete is poured. We are going to delay it as long as we can and hurt them where it counts the most – their wallets. The project is already behind schedule and the cost has risen considerably. We’ve already hurt them and we’re happy about that.” Apex Public Works and Utilities Director Tim Donnelly said the project is “a little over two years” behind schedule. He added that construction could begin by the end of the year and the plant could open as early as late 2013. “But that is if everything goes absolutely perfect,” said Donnelly. “We still have a lot of work to get done.” Apex’s share in the $350,000,000 plant is currently $85,000,000 but that number could rise for a variety of reasons. Some of those expenses have already been paid for by the towns.

Permit Issued for controversial Western Wake sewage plant Posted by Rebekah L. Cowell on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 4:32 PM After five years of fighting the placement and construction of a wastewater treatment plant within their town's historic district, the New Hill Community has received a setback. Yesterday the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' district commander Col. Jefferson M. Ryscavage issued the Corp's Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD gives the Western Wake Partners the necessary permit to begin building their $327 million wastewater plant at Site 14. That site is located on a 237-acre parcel of farmland taken by eminent domain by the Partners for the purpose of building the 62-acre wastewater treatment plant. The location lies adjacent to churches, playgrounds, and homes. New Hill is a small town on the fringes of western Wake County. Because it is unincorporated, New Hill’s total size is hard to quantify in acres or miles, and there are no defined boundaries. On a map it sits between Moncure (Chatham County) and Apex. More than five years ago, New Hill residents were upset by an alliance of Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Holly Springs, later known as Western Wake Partners. Soon the partners decided New Hill was an ideal location for them to build a wastewater treatment plant to meet the needs of their towns’ fast-growing populations. The project is more than three years behind schedule. It could be completed by 2013, with construction beginning as early as this year. While the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers felt their were no practicable alternatives to Site 14, there are significant social justice impacts that defy the Corp's statement that the project "is not contrary to the public interest." Site 14 sits directly across the street from the New Hill Baptist Church and playground, and a half-mile away from the First Baptist Church of New Hill; the plant will be built within 1,000 feet of 23 homes. More important, 83 percent of the 230-plus residents immediately affected by the sewage treatment plant are African-American; rural neighbors on fixed incomes or retired and elderly. Chris Brook, attorney with the Southern Coalition of Social Justice representing the New Hill Community Association expresses disappointment after an initial review of the ROD with the NHCA. "The ROD suffers from the same problems that have plagued this entire process: it does not adequately consider environmental justice or water quality concerns and also gives short shrift to alternative sites with fewer human impacts," he said.

New Hill receives grant to continue battle New Hill residents recently received a financial boost in the ongoing battle to keep a regional sewage plant out of the heart of their community. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice won a $10,000 grant from the Impact Fund on behalf of the New Hill Community Association. The grant will be used to support potential litigation opposing the Western Wake Partners proposed placement of a sewage treatment plant in the center of New Hill. “We will continue to fight the placement of this facility in our community through lobbying, organizing, and, if necessary, litigation,” said New Hill Community Association President, Paul Barth. “This welcome support from the Impact Fund only adds to the resources at our disposal.” Based in California, the Impact Fund provides support for litigation to achieve economic and social justice. The grant will supplement community and SCSJ resources in support of litigation should it prove necessary to combat the siting of the sewage treatment plant. “This sewage treatment plant would unfairly burden our predominantly African-American community for the benefit of the predominantly white affluent communities of Cary, Apex, Holly Springs and Morrisville,” said Rev. James E. Clanton of New Hill First Baptist Church and a leader in the NHCA. Chris Brook, staff attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, noted that the Western Wake Partners “too frequently” excluded New Hill residents from the decision-making process when choosing a site for the plant. “Alternative sites with far fewer impacts on predominantly African-American neighborhoods and the entire New Hill community have not been thoroughly evaluated,” said Brook. “The impacts of the 38 million gallon per day discharge into the Cape Fear River have not been adequately considered.” Read more: Fuquay-Varina Independent - Your source for local news, classifieds, business listings and events.