38. Protecting the Future of Caswell County, NC

Lesie, Scott, and Phil, are all members of Protect Caswell, a chapter of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League that is dedicated to help protect and preserve rights in Caswell County, NC.

They are fighting Carolina Sunrock, LLC, a company that plans to run three large hot mix asphalt plants producing over two and a half million tons of asphalt per year, plus three truck mix cement plants, two stone crushers, and three power generators at three separate sites within 10 miles of each other in their community of Caswell County, NC. Asphalt plants are sources of air pollution that may emit significant levels of both particulate matter and gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These pollutants are considered to be dangerous to human health.

One action that the Protect Caswell Chapter has made is a formal request to the Board of Commissioners for a comprehensive review of existing and proposed paving industry permits in the Prospect Hill and Anderson communities. They said "We submit to you this request for a multiple source review. We believe the draft permits are fatally flawed because they fail to protect public health." She concluded, "We just want all these smokestacks looked at together because they all emit toxic air pollution."

With Leslie, Scott, and Phil, we discuss how they got started as a chapter, how they informed their county commissioners about theses industries coming in, actions they are taking, flaws they found in the asphalt plants permits, and how others can help.

Contact and connect with Protect Caswell: https://www.protectcaswell.org/

More information on asphalt plants: https://www.osha.gov/archive/oshinfo/priorities/asphalt.html http://www.bredl.org/air/asphalt_plants.htm

County Wide Zoning: https://www.sog.unc.edu/resources/legal-summaries/county-zoning https://www.naco.org/resources/featured/planning-ahead-county-planning-land-use-zoning-strategies-affordable-housing

Moratorium on Polluting Industries: https://www.caswellmessenger.com/news/article_e95a2712-ab22-11ea-b1a9-f3c766726a1a.html https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27032020/coronavirus-covid-pandemic-agriculture-plastics-airlines-renewables-coal

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