20080868 Ver 2_County to take on activists over PCS_20090408 (11)

County to take on activists over PCS
Subject: County to take on activists over PCS
From: Susan Massengale <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:15:56 -0400
To: DWQ Clips <[e-mail]>
*County to take on activists over PCS*
Commissioners endorse mining company, vow to fight `tooth and nail'
By TED STRONG
Staff Writer
At its Monday meeting, the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners agreed to push
hard for PCS Phosphate's permit to expand its mining operation.
"I think now's the time to pull out all the stops," said Commissioner Ed Booth.
The board appointed a committee of Hood Richardson, commissioner; Paul Spruill,
county manager; and Tom Thompson, director of the Beaufort County Economic
Development Commission, to work on the matter.
"I think we've gone from the sublime to the completely ridiculous," said
Commissioner Al Klemm of the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to ask for
another review of PCS Phosphate's application.
Several commissioners criticized "long-haired" environmental activists who have
fought to limit the mine's expansion into environmentally sensitive areas.
"About two-thirds of them (environmental activists) are the biggest hypocrites you
ever met," said Commissioner Stan Deatherage.
Booth asked the other commissioners to comport themselves with more dignity when
discussing their opponents.
"Stop calling people names," he said.
He added that his call for respectful debate didn't signal any willingness to bend
on the issue.
"We're going to have to fight these people tooth and nail, and we're going to fight
them tooth and nail," he said.
The commissioners also weighed in on several issues of state government.
The board unanimously voted to support State Superintendent of Public Instruction
June Atkinson, who is fighting to save her elected job after Gov. Beverly Perdue
moved to replace her with an appointee.
Hood Richardson called the Raleigh fracas "a fur fight among the Democrats" before
voting to back Atkinson.
"I think the governor ought to be absolutely ashamed of herself," Klemm said.
Commissioner Robert Cayton, who raised the issue, praised the rare moment of unity
on the board regarding a political question.
"We have bipartisans support for good constitutional government," he said.
The board also voted to oppose N.C. Senate Bill 758 which would shift secondary
roads from state to county responsibility.
1 of 2 4/9/2009 8:48 AM
County to take on activists over PCS
"It's a very innocent sounding bill," said Richardson.
Commissioners worried the move would add tremendous cost to county government
before voting unanimously to oppose it.
The group also found broad support to endorse measures to define marriage in North
Carolina as between one man and one woman. The board tabled the decision to allow
county staff to determine what regulations on the subject are already on the books.
The board voted to endorse the use of e-verify technology statewide. If approved by
the state, the technology would be used by all employers to check employees'
immigration statuses.
Commissioner Stan Deatherage said that for now the illegal immigration issue has
largely "put its own self to bed" because immigrants are leaving as jobs leave, but
argued the county needs to be vigilant because the problem is likely to return when
the economy revives.
Richardson agreed, saying the county needs to act "before this swarm comes back on
us again."
"You don't get some jobs, you're not going to have to worry about e-verifying,"
Booth said.
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina
Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
DENR.DWQ.CLIPS mailing list
DENR.DWQ.CLIPSQlists.ncmail.net
Part 1.3 Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Encoding: 7bit
2 of 2 4/9/2009 8:48 AM