ceej

Thank you letter from Dr. Goldie Wells

Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011

Dear CEEJ Members,

The rally and the large attendance tonight was great! We are thankful for the victory, but we have to keep working to put some new people in those council seats. Thanks for all you have done so far.

We’ll let you know the date of our next meeting…

Goldie

Students and Town People Gather for Protest Rally that becomes Celebration.

On Sept. 20, more than 250 students and towns people gathered at the Governmental Plaza to protest the City’s planned contract with Gate City Waste Services to reopen the White Street Landfill to dispose of Greensboro’s household trash. Students from A&T, Bennett College, UNCG and Guilford College marched from the A&T campus to the Governmental Plaza with drums beating and chants echoing through downtown.

The planned protest became a celebration when rally participants learned that Gate City Waste Services had delivered a letter to City Hall that afternoon pulling out of negotiations to run the landfill. Gate City knew there would be a tie that night when City Council voted on their contract, so they had no chance of getting the required vote to proceed with their negotiations with the City. City Council members against the contract: Robbie Perkins, Nancy Vaughan, T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, Jim Kee. Those in favor of opening the landfill: Bill Knight, Danny Thompson, Trudy Wade and Mary Rakestraw.

When Gate City withdrew their bid, the City Council was forced to renew its contract with Republic to truck the city’s garbage to Montgomery County through the end of 2011, when a new City Council will take office. Let’s work to make sure we have some new representatives on City Council in 2012!

 

CEEJ will meet Monday, Sept. 19 for updates on the landfill issue.

CEEJ will meet Monday, Sept. 19, a day before City Council votes on a contract to reopen the landfill at Laughlin United Memorial Church. Come and get and update and get ready to RALLY on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at the Governmental Plaza.

RALLY WITH CEEJ Tuesday, SEPT. 20!

Join CEEJ and our allies on Sept. 20, 5-5:30 p.m. before the City Council meeting as we protest opening the White Street Landfill to household waste. At their Sept. 20 meeting, City Council will vote on a contract to hire Gate City Waste Services to run the landfill to dispose of Greensboro’s household waste. Come and bring your friends. It’s only 30 minutes. It’s important to show the City Council that ALL of Greensboro cares about this issue.

“We need your presence and your support to show that it’s not just a few citizens who are concerned about this issue.” said Goldie Wells.

City Attorney Explains Why He No Longer Considers that Nancy Vaughan has a Conflict of Interest on the Landfill

On August 24, Greensboro Acting City Attorney Thomas Pollard issued an opinion that Nancy Vaughan no longer has a conflict of interest, and can vote on upcoming issues on regarding the White Street landfill. Vaughan has not voted or taken part in discussions on the landfill because her husband, Don Vaughan, is the attorney for Waste Industries, which has issued several bids to manage the White Street Landfill. Waste Industries is no longer a contender for the contract because a small majority of four to three council persons voted to award the contract to Gate City Waste Management.Vaughan has indicated that she will vote against reopening the landfill to household waste.

Below is a link to a letter that Pollard wrote to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP, attorneys for Gate City Waste Management, explaining his reasoning in issuing that opinion. Letter from City Attorney Pollard re Vaughan

CEEJ holds meeting on Landfill Monday,        September 19

Dr. Goldie Wells at wdistmissy@aol.com announces that there will be a meeting of the Citizens for Economic and Environmental Justice (CEEJ) on the White Street Landfill Monday, September 19, 2011                                                                                                        Laughlin United Methodist Church, 1417 Huffine Mill Road

The plans for the City Council’s first public hearing  on the selection of the waste disposal will be discussed. We need your presence and your input.

City Council Votes to Award Landfill Contract to Gate City Waste Management

On Tuesday, August 16, the Greensboro City Council voted to award a contract to Gate City Waste Services to dispose of Greensboro’s municipal household waste in Phase III of the White Street Landfill. The vote passed four to three. Mayor Bill Knight and Councilpersons Danny Thompson, Trudy Wade and Mary Rakestraw voted in favor of awarding the contract. Mayoral candidate Robbie Perkins and Councilpersons Diane Bellamy-Small and Jim McKee voted against awarding the contract.

A motion by Diane Bellamy-Small to delay the vote due to the compressed timeline of this process was voted down. The deadline for proposals  was just seven business days before the vote on awarding the contract. The vote was taken in spite of protests from numerous speakers from the floor, who urged that more time be given to the process of evaluating the proposals.

Council woman Trudy Wade made the motion to award the contract to Gate City Waste Services. The vote was taken with no discussion of the merits of the various proposals. No explanation was given as to why Gate City was chosen. “It’s a slap in the face to the citizens of Greensboro,” said CEEJ leader Goldie Wells to a News & Record reporter. “It’s like we don’t matter.”

CEEJ has not given up the fight. We will regroup to discuss our options. The most important thing we can all do is vote, both in the municipal primary and in the election. Keep the faith. We will not give up!

____________________________________________________________

Another Study Confirms Elevated Rates of Pancreatic Cancer Around the White Street Landfill

The North Carolina Division of Public Health has released the results of a study investigating the incidences of cancer in the areas surrounding White Street Landfill in Greensboro, NC, which found that, there appears to be an elevated rate of pancreatic cancers in the study area relative to typical rates observed in North Carolina.”

Although cancer has many causes, the report states that, “The increased number of pancreatic cancers in the study community cannot be attributed to differences in age, gender and race since the control population was selected for its demographic similarities to the reference population.”

Kay Brandon, a member of the Greensboro Citizens for Economic and Environmental Justice, is disappointed that the Greensboro City Council is trying to re-open the White Street Landfill before fully studying these instances of pancreatic cancer. “For those of us who have lived in the community long enough, there are enough anecdotal stories of cancer that it seems more than coincidental, especially when you look at the high numbers of people affected in each family,” she said.

The study maintains that the elevated cancer rates have not yet been linked to environmental exposure associated with White Street Landfill. In support of this the report notes a clean soil cap is now placed on the landfill each day to entrap toxic chemicals. However, the report fails to note this is a new procedure that did not occur for the first 50 years of the landfill’s existence, when many of the current residents were already living in the area. It also fails to note Phases I and II of the landfill are unlined.

Greensboro Human Relations Commission Opposes Reopening of the White Street Landfill until Further Study is Done on Health Issues

On June 7, 2011, the Human Relations commission approved a resolution opposing the reopening of White Street Landfill to household trash until further study can be done on the health impacts of the landfill. It also recommended that the City Council hold a hearing on reopening the landfill. The resolution was read at the following City Council meeting despite objections from some City Council members.

The resolution ended with these words, “We believe that the impact of this decision (to reopen the landfill) is city-wide and that disregard for the health and well-being of one neighborhood or community in our city weakens our entire city body. We are only as healthy, strong, and united in a common purpose to make Greensboro the best that it can be as the aggregate of our individual neighborhoods.”

CEEJ appreciates the courage of the Human Relations Commission in approving this resolution. We consider it an important moral voice in support of our efforts.

Read the full resolution: HRC_Landfill_Resolution_6-10-2011_(3)

Thanks to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ)

CEEJ_Letter_Thank_You

Preliminary Injunction Granted!

Today, June 16, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Richard W. Stone granted a preliminary injunction which prevents the City of Greensboro from entering into a contract with a private company for the operation of White Street Landfill until the case is heard in court. Follow the link to view the injunction. Guilford Superior Court Preliminary Injunction 6-16-11

Chris Brook, attorney for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice argued before Superior Court Judge Richard Stone on June13 that Phase III of the White Street Landfill is expected to reach its capacity within the next four years. Since the city intends to enter into a contract for a minimum fifteen years, expanding the landfill and new permits will be required. Future phases would qualify as “new sanitary landfills”; in order to open a new sanitary landfill, the council is required under North Carolina General Statute 160A-325 to consider other sites, hold a public hearing and consider socioeconomic data. So far the council has proceeded in spite of city residents rather than with their support.

According Chris Brook in a press release, “The city has failed to comply with the statute potentially to the detriment of its residents. The council will make a decision with serious costs, in the form of lost tax revenue, property value, environmental and health costs. The issue that will bring the case to court, however, is its failure to make its decision in accordance to state law.”

CEEJ is one of the complainants in the case, along with the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad and several residents of the neighborhood near the proposed landfill.

CEEJ talked about suing the City to prevent reopening of the White Street Landfill at our May 21 meeting.

Follow this link to see a story on the meeting on WGHP Fox News.

CEEJ discusses suing City at May 23 meeting – Fox 8 news story

City Council plans to open the landfill.

At the last City Council meeting on May 17, the City Council voted to eliminate Advanced Disposal Services from consideration as a contractor to operate Greensboro’s waste management. That leaves Gate City Waste Services and Waste Industries as the only companies in the running. Both companies want to reopen White Street Landfill.

City Council chambers were full Tuesday night and there were an additional 50 people sitting outside chambers, watching proceedings on a television screen. Most of them came to oppose reopening the landfill to household waste and to ask the City to use a $5 million energy grant to help low income people winterize their homes.

Below is a link to a letter SCSJ attorney Chris sent to the Greensboro             City Attorney on May 5.

White Street Letter to City Attorney re 160A-325