Titan Cement Inconsistent With Local Economy and Ecology
Cape Fear Economic Development Council, Inc. (CFEDC) announced today that it believes that the proposed Titan cement project is "inconsistent with both the region's current economic identity as well as the region's as yet unrealized potential.
Online, July 12, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Cape Fear Economic Development Council, Inc. (CFEDC) announced today that it believes that the proposed Titan cement project is "inconsistent with both the region's current economic identity as well as our as yet unrealized potential to compete at a global scale". Titan America has proposed to build one of the largest cement manufacturing and limestone mines in the nation on the Northeast Cape Fear River just North of Wilmington, NC.
Lloyd Smith, president of Cape Fear Economic Development Council, and a local business owner, stated, "More important than this one project, it is my opinion that the process that brought Titan Cement to the region is broken and in need of repair." Shar Olivier, a member of the CFEDC board of directors, added that, "the Titan proposal and the surrounding ideological struggle are symptomatic of the fact that our elected public servants need a clearer vision for the region's future and a process with local checks and balances to control the future direction of our economy."
CFEDC board member and internet technology expert, Ian Oeschger stated, "We are distinctly pro business, and we disagree entirely with the "any job at any cost" mentality often used to justify the considerable externalized economic costs associated with such a project." Bill Graham, CFEDC board member and community leader in the areas of health, education and the arts added, "This region has had long standing air and water pollution problems that can no longer be tolerated as EPA has tightened its rules in response to greater knowledge of the implications of pollutants in our environment. The addition of Titan or other large scale coal burning plants in a region that makes its living from tourism and water sports is adverse to our primary business core as well as the health of our families."
Elise Rocks, CFEDC board chair, and a local real estate appraiser, explained that "the Cape Fear region can only compete in the 21st century, global economy by raising our standards and boosting quality of life, which will in turn attract and keep the kind of companies we want."