Hot Activism In The Sandhills

Scotland County Of Tomorrow (SCOT) planned a Rally to be held before the Public Hearing which was to be April 2 nd at the regular April Board of Commissioner's meeting. Although the Public Hearing has been cancelled, communications from County Manager John Crumpton and Board Chair J. D. Willis indicate that, although negotiations are on hold, the Waste Management application remains on file, and Waste Management has been invited to reconsider the application at any time.
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From the Fayetteville Observer on 4/3:
Tempers flair over landfill
By Allison Williams Correspondent

LAURINBURG — With a bagpiper leading the way, people protesting a regional landfill marched to the monthly meeting of Scotland County commissioners Monday night.

But when they got there, Chairman J.D. Willis would not allow any of the protesters — who had registered in advance — to address the board during its public forum. Protesters booed and Willis threatened to call police.

"Throw them out," one member of the audience called out, referring to county commissioners.

"If you don't get out, we're going to call police to come get you out," Willis replied, banging his gavel as protesters shook homemade signs and printed banners that said, "No Megadump."

Willis said that protesters would be allowed to speak when a public hearing on a proposed landfill is scheduled. The hearing had been set for Monday night, but when a state committee proposed more stringent landfill requirements, the county put the hearing on hold. Many people thought that the landfill was dead.

Waste Management Inc., said the new requirements would make a regional landfill in Scotland County too expensive to build. But protesters say Willis' comments that the public hearing will be rescheduled proves that it isn't over yet.

Protesters began the evening at a parking lot across the street from the county government building. They held a rally about an hour before the commissioners' meeting began.

Speakers came from across southeastern North Carolina, many of them from communities that are fighting or have fought landfills. A large group of women arrived in matching T-shirts that read, "Citizens for a Safe Vibrant Community," and carrying hand-lettered signs. The women fought a construction and demolition landfill in the small town of Sandyfield in Columbus County.

People came from Richmond, Duplin and Moore counties. Fred McQueen helped fight a proposed landfill in neighboring Richmond County.

He warned people in Scotland County not to be complacent because Waste Management has appeared to back away from the idea of building a landfill that would accept waste from six states and Washington. County commissioners are clearly still interested, he said.

"It's not J.D. and the county commissioners that backed down," McQueen said. "It was Waste Management that backed down."

A March letter from Chairman Willis to Waste Management says, "If and when your company is prepared to complete the negotiations over the host agreement, we would be glad to reconsider the application for the preliminary franchise at that time."

The idea of a landfill was first raised in 2005.

Proponents said the landfill would bring in much-needed revenue to a county with one of the highest tax rates in the state.

Opponents said the landfill would cause enormous environmental problems.

In July, the General Assembly passed a moratorium on building new commercial landfills. Some people thought that would mean an end to a regional landfill, but discussions continued.

Last month, the N.C. Division of Waste Management proposed guidelines that would require landfills to have two underground liners and expensive monitoring systems. Scotland County

Manager John Crumpton said the changes would mean an extra $80 million to build the proposed regional landfill.

Again, the idea of a landfill seemed to be dead.

Bob Davis is co-chairman of Scotland County of Tomorrow, one of the groups protesting the landfill.

"They called this off once before," he said, but the issue returned and he's not sure it won't happen again.

When Willis refused to let him or others speak Monday night, he said, it emphasized his point that the landfill is not dead.

Helen Livingston said protesters are celebrating some victories — the proposed guidelines for one — but won't rest until changes are signed into law and Waste Management closes up shop in Scotland County.

"It's not over," she said.
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The Fayetteville Observer reporter left before the Board returned from closed session. The Laurinburg Exchange article adds:

"Several citizens were allowed to address Commissioners after the Board returned from closed session but Willis had not informed them they would have the chance to speak during the meeting when he initially closed the public forum".

www.nomegadump.org

The SCOT RALLY:

THE PURPOSE OF THE SCOT RALLY IS THREEFOLD :

1) TO CELEBRATE
The new legislative landfill proposals have received thorough, detailed work. We rejoice in their filing last week, and thank legislators for their responsiveness to our requests for safer landfill regulations. Full relief from County Medicaid payments empowers low wealth counties to say no to undesirable economic development. We appreciate this step towards One North Carolina, and are grateful to legislators who understand the significance of this relief.

2) TO EDUCATE
Scotland County has turned away both a Hazardous Waste site and a Nuclear Waste site in the past. We can be proud of our role in turning away one of the top ten mega-dumps in the US.

Scotland County is one of the bright lights in the state in its recycling successes. Even though recycle pick-up has gone from every week to every other week, the volume has not dropped considerably. Our convenience centers are models for the state. We can utilize our past successes to create more progress to handle solid waste in ways that further promote reduce, reuse and recycle. The State is backing its efforts with funding to assist with the shift to the new solid waste plan.

We are fortunate that Scotland County has this opportunity to look to the future, rather than be one of the last to succumb to waste industry pressures for hosting a mega-dump … already antiquated technology.

We take this opportunity to request that Scotland County end all negations with Waste Management: Return the application on file, stop requesting that our representatives block the proposed new landfill safety regulations, and validate that immediate Medicaid relief places the county's financial outlook on a level where the risks of health and economic losses from a huge mega-dump are neither necessary, nor are they in the best interest of Scotland County

3) TO COLLABORATE :
SCOT works with other organizations around the state to insure that NC exercises a progressive, preventive approach to Solid Waste Management. Other counties supporting us today include Richmond, Moore, Duplin, Cumberland, Columbus, Brunswick and Camden. State wide environmental groups have joined forces to develop and support the new legislative bills.