Why Stop Titan America?
Based on Titan’s air permit application* (dated Feb. 2011), the proposed cement plant (called Carolinas Cement Company) would:
- Create one of the largest sources of air pollution in our area for the next 50 years.
- Be one of the largest cement plants in the nation.
- Be one of the highest mercury-emitting facilities in New Hanover County. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that causes disabilities in children, infants, and the unborn. New Hanover County already has some of the highest mercury emissions in the state.
- Be a significant emitter of nitrogen dioxide (contributes to smog and ozone) and sulfur dioxide (contributes to acid rain). Smog and ozone increase health risks to humans.
- Expose an estimated 8,500 students enrolled within 5 miles of Titan’s property to pollutants known to cause increased rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Titan’s plant and mine would be less than two miles from New Hanover County’s newest elementary and middle schools.
- Emit up to 200 tons of particulate matter each year, a substance that contributes to tens of thousands of premature deaths annually from heart attacks, strokes, and asthma attacks. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable. North Carolina already has a higher than average rate of childhood asthma.
- Create a 2500 + acre mine, over 70-feet deep that would destroy over 1000 acres of irreplaceable wetlands, wildlife habitat and potentially harm critical surface and ground water within the NE Cape Fear River ecosystem.
- Withdraw up to 16 millions of gallons of water per day from the Castle Hayne and Pee Dee aquifers, potentially lowering the water table and risking contamination of a major source of our drinking water.
- Increase North Carolina’s carbon dioxide emissions, a major cause of global warming. North Carolina currently emits nearly the same amount of C02 as California with one-fourth the population. Cement plants emit 5% of human-caused CO2 emissions worldwide.
- Disregard strong opposition from more than 350 local health care providers—including over 200 area physicians, as well as more than 15,000 community members, countless business leaders, numerous local and state environmental groups, and UNCW professors in economics and marine science (click here for a partial list).
Seven cement plants are within 450 miles of Wilmington, including three within 250 miles. Do we really need one in Wilmington?
* These facts are from the permit application. Click here to view the full DAQ draft permit application.
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