Action and Advocacy

League of Women Voters^®
of the Lower Cape Fear

We are truly a grassroots organization...

HOW WE MAKE DECISIONS. Titan Cement and Mining Operation.

HOW WE MAKE DECISIONS

The League of Women Voters takes action on an issue or advocates for a cause when there is an existing League position that supports the issue or speaks to the cause.
Positions result from a process of study. Any given study, whether it be National, State, or Local, is thorough in its pursuit of facts and details. As the study progresses, a continuing discussion of pros and cons of each situation occurs. Prior to the results of the study being presented to the general membership, study committee members fashion consensus questions that are then addressed by the membership.
Additional discussion, pro and con, takes place as members (not part of the study committee) learn the scope of the study. After the members reach consensus, the board forms positions based on that consensus.
It is the consensus statement -- the statement resulting from the consensus questions -- that becomes a position. Firm action or advocacy can then be taken on the particular issue addressed by the position. Without a position, action/advocacy cannot be taken.

POSITION ON TITAN AMERICA PROPOSAL

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE LOWER CAPE FEAR
POSITION STATEMENT: ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES

The League of Women Voters of the United States has adopted positions which support the wise management of resources and identification and regulation of areas of critical concern, including but not limited to:

fragile or historical lands, where development could result in irreversible damage such as shore lands of rivers, lakes and streams, estuaries and bays; rare or valuable ecosystems; significant wildlife habitats; unique scenic or historic areas; and wetlands,

renewable resource lands, where development could result in the loss of productivity such as watersheds, aquifers and aquifer-recharge areas, and forest lands.
ACCORDINGLY, after study of the EXPECTED ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF BUILDING AND OPERATING A CEMENT PLANT AND MINING OPERATION ON THE SITE OF THE OLD CEMENT PLANT ON THE CAPE FEAR RIVER, THE League of Women Voters of the Lower Cape Fear JOINS OTHER CONCERNED CITIZENS IN OPPOSITION TO THE CEMENT OPERATION AS CURRENTLY PROPOSED BY TITAN AMERICAN in Castle Hayne.

We cite as particular concerns (all possibilities expressly admitted by Titan America):
--the contamination of the Cape Fear River resulting from the direct planned discharge of effluent into the river,
--the probable loss of six hundred acres (or more) of irreplaceable wetlands,
--the risk of compromising the also irreplaceable aquifer as a result of proposed limestone mining.
--the expected increased contamination of our air and water with mercury and chromium VI emissions.
We URGE OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES to find a method to stop this proposed development in such an environmentally fragile location. Whatever economic benefit it might produce could not be worth the cost to unique and irreplaceable natural resources. The dangers to citizens of this area are multifold (dust particles in air from the plant and the truck traffic, contaminants which may impact children in schools nearby) including the potential threat to our dominant industry here, tourism. If tourists cannot swim, boat in the water, eat the fish or breathe the air, they will disappear.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: August 18, 2008 17:34 PDT.