Four local groups rally against the new Environmental Services Director

Date: Wed, 25 May 2011 11:38:14 -0400
From: Haw River Assembly
Subject: Four Local Environmental Groups Blast Chatham County Budget

Four Local Environmental Groups Blast Chatham County Budget

Major environmental groups in Chatham County describe the new Chatham County budget as an environmental disaster. They believe the three newly elected commissioners – Brian Bock, Walter Petty and Pamela Stewart – are participating in a larger Tea Party inspired effort to dismantle local, state and national environmental protections first initiated in 1969 and 1972  when President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.

The groups – Chatham Citizens for Effective Communities, Haw River Assembly, Friends of the Rocky River and the Orange- Chatham Chapter of the Sierra Club  – point out that Chatham County does not have a budget crisis. In fact it has a reserve of 27% when the State only requires a reserve of 8%.  It
also has a moderate tax rate and one of the highest credit ratings of any county in North Carolina.

Undermining and weakening environmental protections in Chatham County will result in water that is more expensive to treat and less healthy to drink, more pollution in the Haw, Deep and Rocky Rivers and in Jordan Lake, more soil erosion and muddy waters, increased threats to public health, reduced recreational opportunities for all Chatham citizens, and a county that will be less able to attract high paying businesses and residents who seek clean, beautiful environments.

The groups question why Bock, Petty and Stewart propose to eliminate the Environmental Resources Director position, green building staff, the green building rebate program and county support for municipal parks when no budget crisis exists.  These actions are in addition to their firing of the
Sustainable Communities Development Director in January, their continued refusal to fill a vacant soil erosion control position, their decision to postpone funding a land use planning map and their refusal to appoint or re-appoint members to the Environmental Review Board.

Chatham County is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. But it also has many environmental problems including impaired water supplies in the Haw River, the Rocky River and Jordan Lake. These problems, in turn, often result in unhealthy drinking water with toxic substances that have been linked to cancer and other diseases. One important reason the Environmental Resources Director position was established was so that Chatham could work more effectively with federal and state agencies to improve drinking water supplies including implementing the Jordan Lake rules established by the State of North Carolina.

Eliminating the Environmental Resources Director position and placing water quality and soil erosion control functions under the same administration as the Waste Management Department will greatly hinder effective efforts to solve soil erosion and water quality problems in Chatham County.  This new
department would be understaffed, and lacking key personnel and expertise to carry out the enormous responsibilities of the county.  New and troubling issues also need the attention of environmental expertise.  These include concerns about sludge application to farmland,  and the possibility of
hydrofracking for natural gas in this area,  with the accompanying dangers to water supplies.

The underlying philosophy of the new budget appears to be that those who created environmental problems should be trusted to fix these same problems. This approach, the groups argue, is naive.  This means those who have created environmental problems, including large developers and polluting businesses, will have to be trusted to act largely on a voluntary basis to clean up polluted air and water. With a similar attack underway in Raleigh to decimate the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, we will not be able to depend on adequate state laws and staff to protect basic environmental and public health.

 We call on the three new commissioners to join with Commissioners Kost and Cross to reinstate the Sustainable Community Development Director position, maintain the Environmental Resources Director position, fill the vacant soil erosion control officer position, fund development of a land use planning map, continue support for parks and the Green Building program, keep environmental protection programs in a separate department, support an effective Environmental Review Board  and provide adequate funding for all of the above.

For more information contact:

Rita Spina,  Chatham Citizens for Effective Communities,  919-932-3132,

Elaine Chiosso, Haw River Keeper, Haw River Assembly,  919-542-5790,

Kathleen Hundley, President, Friends of the Rocky River, 919-774-8799,

Judith Ferster, Conservation Chair, Sierra Club, Orange/Chatham Group,
929-6648,