20061203 Ver 1_Public Notice Comments_20060629 (4)

Cyndi Karoly "'I
North Carolina Division of Water Quality (NCDWQ) JUN 2 g 2006 [[[~~~///
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1650 wE~pS~ TTE~R Q~~~
June 27, 2006
Dear Ms. Karoly,
I would like to call to your attention the many ways in which the Western Wake Partners (WWP) have failed
to comply with public notification and environmental justice considerations doting the planning stages of
their proposed sewage plant.
The WWP have deliberately and repeatedly violated North Carolina's open meetings laws, and have
demonstrably tried to keep the public that would be most directly affected by this planned facility as
uninformed as possible for as long as possible. To this day, they continue to spread misleading information.
The New Hill Community Association (NCHA} has collected much evidence that demonstrates the WWP's
intent in this regard. This documentation was provided to DENR representatives at the June 15 public
meeting in Apex. Please carefully review the information we have gathered and consider all our concerns
thoroughly. Our findings suggest a pattern of intent to withhold information from the public. Not only did
the WWP fail to inform New Hill citizens about this project, they ignored DENR's own advice to make a
greater effort to involve the public than is normally required.
Environmental Justice requires that input be sought from citizens who will be most affected by projects
such as this sewage plant. At the very least, those citizens should be kept informed and should have access
to meetings at which decisions about the project will be made. This did not happen during the planning for
this sewage plant. The most egregious violation occurred when the actual site selection for the project was
made by staff from the four WWP towns at an unannounced, closed meeting. Representatives from NHCA
have asked for minutes of that meeting, but we have only received an email telling us who made the
decision, and no officially recorded minutes. Why town staff bypassed sites selected by taxpayer funded
engineering consultants in favor of three hastily added sites in the New Hill community remains a mystery
to this day.
I ask that DENR hold the WWP responsible their violation of the public trust. Require them to renew the
site selection process-this time conducting open, public meetings and accepting input from the population
that will be most affected by whatever sites are considered. Undoubtedly, the WWP will argue that if they
are forced to revisit site selection, it will delay the project. It is their own clandestine action and dubious site
selection process which mandates such delay. The citizens of New Hill should not be made to suffer for the
WWP's failure to meet the most basic requirements of public notification and engagement.
Please do not reward the WWP by allowing this project to proceed at this dubiously selected site. Allowing
this project to go forward makes a mockery of the laws and regulations that have been put in place to
protect citizens of this state from precisely this sort of abuse. By insisting the WWP reconsider the process
and conduct their planning in a proper manner, DENR can send a message to planners of all such
projects-that abuse of the citizens of this state will not be tolerated, especially in the name of "progress."
Thank you,
Kate Hanser, 3000 Old US 1 Hwy, New Hill, NC
cc: New Hill Community Association (NHCA)