The Concerned Citizens of Richmond County allege in a lawsuit that a permit issued to Enviva by the North Carolina Department of Environment Quality on June 8 to correct the address of the plant as listed in the previous permit violated North Carolina environmental regulations requiring a public hearing prior to making a change in the location of the plant.
The new permit changed the address from “1039” to “1125” North NC Highway 177, a little more than three miles north of Dobbins Heights, as it was listed in the previous permit issued on April 7. This was, in fact, the second revision to the permit. The first permit, issued on March 29, 2016, listed the correct street address but the wrong ZIP code, according to court documents.
The plant’s physical location did not change at any point in the process.
The lawsuit, filed on July 7, states that in issuing a revision to the previous permit — which the Concerned Citizens also challenged — the Department of Environmental Quality has again violated the North Carolina Air Pollution Control and the federal Clean Air Act, among others, by “failing to provide the required public notice, opportunity for comment and public hearing.”
Were these changes to be considered “minor,” DEQ would not be required to seek public comment again prior to issuing the permit. North Carolina law states that an administrative permit amendment is “a permit revision that…identifies a change in the name, address or telephone number of any individual identified in the permit or provides a similar minor administrative change at the facility.”
“This is not a minor administrative change like a change in a telephone number or mailing address, and therefore it cannot be made without proper notice and input,” the complaint states.
The DEQ ran an ad in the Daily Journal on Sept. 18, 2015 which listed the address as just “Highway 177, Hamlet NC” which the plaintiffs claim is not specific enough for residents to know whether they would be affected since Highway 177 runs roughly from the currently idle Rockingham Speedway through Hamlet and into South Carolina.
“The Department has never provided the required public hearing for the proposed facility,” the complaint states.
In response, the DEQ contends that the changes made did constitute an administrative change and therefore it should not have to seek further public comment. The DEQ also claims that it did offer sufficient public notice initially, but, due to circumstances outside of its control, was unable to provide an exact address for the plant.
“Because a [prevention of significant deterioration] permit is for the construction of a new facility…applications are submitted before construction of the facility has commenced and, in many cases before an official street address has been assigned to the building location,” the response reads. “Consistent with its prior practice for processing PSD applications, [the Division of Air Quality] identified the general location of the facility in the notice as ‘Highway 177, Hamlet NC’.”
The hearing will be held on Nov. 27 in High Point.
The Dogwood Alliance and the Concerned Citizens of Richmond County have scheduled a meeting a public meeting with members of the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus, including Rep. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, to share concerns about the Enviva plant. Representatives from Enviva have been asked to attend as well.
The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 at the Dobbins Heights Community Center at 222 Earle Franklin Drive.
Reach Gavin Stone at 910-817-2674.