In most communities in North Carolina, elected officials stay on top of critical municipal needs, such as having enough space to dispose of solid waste. However, as Pulpsters know, Orange County isn’t like most of North Carolina.

At way past midnight on the trash transfer station timeline, Chapel Hill mayor Kevin Foy suddenly has a thought about a site for the trash transfer station. How about putting it next to the Chapel Town Operations Center?

The reaction of the local media and other local politicians is as informative as it is entertaining. (See Chapel Hill Herald Epiphany Site Story.)

Rip Van Winkle's Hollow

On Friday, 8 May 2009, Mayor Foy led a select entourage around the 32 acre site off Millhouse Road. In his decisive and immortal words, “The question isn't whether we should put a transfer station there. The question is, is this something worth talking about?” Talk, it's the fragrant and somnambulant lingua orange of Pulpville.

None other than Commish Mike Nelson opines that “It can't be a shock to anyone that a waste transfer station in that location would be very strongly opposed by residents of northern Chapel Hill. It will take an inordinate amount of political will — in a town election year no less — to site the waste transfer station there.”

Dr. Rick Kennedy, a Nelson supporter, a family practice physician, a rural buffer resident, and a critic of those criticizing local government finally found something that he didn’t like about local government. Seems the issue only has to be at his doorstep (he lives within less than ¼ mile from the site) in order for him to “see the light”. In his words, ““People ought to share the things in the community that nobody really wants. Why doesn't that resonate here like it does on Rogers Road?”

“Physician heal thyself” has taken on new meaning. Perhaps Dr. Kennedy hasn’t yet attained the enlightment that comes from a constant flow of smelly trash trucks, the piquant essence of rotten garbage, and the sights of soaring flocks of buzzards.

What’s missing from the local media story of Mayor Foy's epiphany about locating the trash transfer station?

Even Commish Valerie Foushee, the Sphinx of the Orange County board recognizes something is amiss. In her words, the county asked the towns “months ago… and probably more than once” about a transfer station site. “Nothing was forthcoming.”

So what happened? Never fear. The Pulp will reveal a most southern of pastimes is to blame for the sudden awakening of Mayor Foy. He read the local obituary section. Lo and behold, the answer was revealed to him from an end of April 2009 item.

“Mrs. Julia Blackwood, 88, died Easter weekend at her home in Chapel Hill. Julia was born in Clinton, NC to Herman Stewart and Jenny B. Merritt. She came to Chapel Hill as the young bride of Eugene M. Blackwood. Soon after, she went to work as a secretary at the American Tobacco Company in Durham. (See Carrboro Citizen Blackwood Obit.

What does Ms. Blackwood have to do with a trash transfer station? Well kick back and follow how “bidness get dun” in Orange County.

The Blackwood family has owned property around Millhouse Road since 1752, before Chapel Hill was founded. They came under assault from the town in 1996.

After the firestorm surrounding then Chapel Hill Mayor Howard Lee forcing a landfill on to the Rogers Road community in 1972, Chapel Hill went looking for an alternative site for solid waste. It, the county, and Carrboro all thought they had the new site, Ms. Blackwood’s property on Millhouse Road.

The past is prologue in Orange County. As in the present trash crisis, the answer is revealed not at the beginning of the process, but in a surprise move at the end. In 1996, the politicians had a citizen group working diligently on site selection for over a year. Sixteen sites were considered. Then, magically, at the end, a 17th site (OC-17) was added, the Blackwood – Duke Forest site.

None other than Mr. Gayle Wilson denied hanky-panky in the latecomer OC-17 becoming the odds-on favorite back in 1996. Yes, it's the same Gayle Wilson who is surprised in 2009 by Mayor Foy’s magical announcement about the town operations center space, which just happens to be next to – you guessed it – the property of the now deceased Ms. Blackwood. Back in 1996, Mr. Wilson was the town of Chapel Hill’s solid waste administrator. In 2009, he's Orange County's solid waste administrator. (Any wonder the new county solid waste facility has just been built on Eubanks Road?)

Recycling is not left simply to bureaucrats in Orange County. Politicians and pundits are recycled too.

Guess who voted for the OC-17 landfill site? None other than then Chapel Hill Councilman, now Carrboro mayor Mark Chilton. As reported in the N&O in 1996, although Mr. Chilton was a “favorite of the local Sierra Club”, he voted for the OC-17 without any debate by the local enviromentalists. So did Carrboro Alderman Jacquie Gist, So did then Carrboro mayor, now county commish Mike Nelson.

Guess who was in opposition to the county picking any landfill site? None other than then Green Party member, now Democratic Party member and Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman. In his words, ”the people in the Blackwood Mountain area come across as NIMBYs. I’m particularly troubled by sone of their suggestions that we should ship our waste somewhere else. Why should we take advantage of another community’s poverty?” Strong words for someone with no visible means of occupation, then or now.

Then as now, technical arguments didn’t matter. Who cares if the site was too rocky and had a slave graveyard? What really mattered was raw political power. The county’s mistake was in going after some Duke Forest land. The Commishes can steamroll working African-Americans and land grant farmers. But, they are revealed as eunuchs where it comes to facing up to the Duke power block.

So let’s go back to the present.

Ms. Blackwood dies. Mr. Foy reads the obits. Shazam! We have a new spot for the trash transfer station.

The local media doesn’t ask the searchlight questions.

“So Mr. Foy, where have you been for the past three years in the trash transfer station debate?”

“When did you first think about the town operations spot next to Ms. Blackwood’s property?”

“Did you really wait until she died to screw up the courage to announce the site, while her grave is still fresh?”

Yes, local progressive profiles in courage abound.

It’s another miracle at the dump!

In January 2009, Orange County Solid Waste (OCSW) trashologists miraculously uncovered another year of life in the old county landfill. Instead of closing in mid-2010, it would remain open until mid-2011. OCSW claims that the additional year came from better landfill management, such as asking UNC-Chapel Hill to redirect garbage, using a daily cover that takes up less volume, buying a better waste compactor, and banning residential cardboard as of November 2008. (The begged-for question, unasked by local media, is, why weren’t better management practices employed ten years ago? How much more life would be available?)

Well, lightning has struck twice amidst the detritus of southern Orange. Again, just when more time is needed by County Commishes, the landfill can now stay open yet another year, until mid-2012. Acccording to solid waste planner Blair Pollock, ”It looks, barring some disaster, like we have space for another year.” (See N&O Solid Waste Story.)

Local political commentators remain mute. No explanation is needed as to the convenient stretching of the landfill timeline.

Almost two years ago in early 2008 Orange County Commishes were told by Mr. Gayle Wilson (Orange County Solid Waste or OCSW) that the county landfill was running out of space by 2010. (See the Carrboro Citizen Trash Transfer Series.) Time had run out. A decision had to be made “RIGHT NOW”, said Commishes Moses Carey and Mike Nelson. With much public hand-wringing they voted unanimously to place a county trash transfer station on Eubanks Road, next to the same working class African-American community that hosted the smell of the landfill for thirty years.

Fast forward two years and consider the new found distaste of local commish pals for employing what two years ago was proclaimed to be state-of-the-art, clean, attractive technology, a distaste that wasn't expressed for over two years so long as the transfer station wouldn’t be placed in the backyard of a pal. Once alternative trash transfer station sites were considered, alternatives that aren’t not located near an African-American working class community, the shine came off the trash transfer station ”shinola”.

No word on what new tools will be employed by OCSW trashologists to uncover a third extra year at the dump.

Cynical Pulpsters have never forgotten the immortal words of former Orange County Commish, Moses Carey, “All roads lead to Eubanks.” These words can be likened to those of Admiral Farragut entering Mobile Bay, ”Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”. An immutable decision has been made for better or worse. To Mr. Carey, a county solid waste transfer station must be built near the county landfill on Eubanks Road. Environmental racism charges can be damned. All the handwringing by the Commishes on moving the site of the future solid waste transfer station from the initial target of Eubanks Road is an expensive charade. ”All roads lead to Eubanks”.

Pulpster cynicism has been fed by the fact that the new home for Orange County Solid Waste has been completed. You guessed it, the facility has been built next to the Eubanks landfill. ”All roads lead to Eubanks”.

Pulpsters can be forgiven for not being surprised by the latest pronouncement by the Orange County Solid Waste official. According to the Daily Tar Heel, A “temporary” solid waste transfer station may have to be built on Eubanks Road. In the words of Ms. Gwen Harvey, assistant county manager, “It may be necessary, but that’s not the direction we would prefer to have to go.” Translation - ”All roads lead to Eubanks”.

Word of the permanent “temporary” Eubanks location comes on top of the “surprise” announcement from county officials that OWASA, a governmental corporation owned in part by Orange County, won’t swap land for a permanent solid waste transfer station site not near Eubanks Road with its part owner, Orange County. (See Chapel Hill News OWASA Land Swap Story.) Even the Orange County appointed OWASA corporate directors conveniently won’t vote to assist Orange County. ”All roads lead to Eubanks”.

Both Ms. Harvey and solid waste director Mr. Gayle Wilson have declined to discuss how a temporary station would be designed and how much it would cost to build a temporary station at Eubanks and then later build a permanent station at a different site. Pulpsters await with anticipation the pronouncement that once the temporary station has been designed and built, it makes financial sense to make the “temporary” site the permanent site. “All roads lead to Eubanks”.

The Commishes will meet on April 21st to decide if, truly, “All roads lead to Eubanks”.

No word from Orange County Solid Waste or the Commishes on how much taxpayer money will be spent in total on the ruse of moving a solid waste transfer station from Eubanks Road to Eubanks Road.

Almost two years ago Orange County Commishes were told by Mr. Gayle Wilson (Orange County Solid Waste) that the county landfill was running out of space by 2010. (See the Carrboro Citizen Trash Transfer Series.) Time had run out. A decision had to be made “RIGHT NOW”, said Commishes Moses Carey and Mike Nelson. With much public hand-wringing they voted unanimously to place a county trash transfer station on Eubanks Road.

Only a few stood up against the Commishes. Neither the Chapel Hill nor the Carrboro town governance boards stood up against a Eubanks Road trash transfer station. They showed their political courage by remaining mute, even though Commish Moses Carey asked them in writing for their opinion. Grassroots anti-ANY-trash transfer station groups didn’t exist. As long as the same old working class African-American Rogers Road community was being dumped on, the local media remained mute.

Then the trash hit the fan.

A formal complaint of environmental racism was filed against Orange County with the US Department of Justice by Rogers Road residents. The Commishes hadn’t followed federal government guidelines for locating the proposed transfer station. How rude. It was hard to keep the environmental racism garbage from clinging.

Public shame was followed by political challengers having the nerve to run in local elections. They actually attempted to make the trash transfer station process an issue.

The local media responded to these charges of environmental racism by waiting until AFTER those elections to pound their chest. Ensuring that only the “right people”” are elected takes progressive precedence over outing local environmental racism.

The local chapter of the Sierra Club remained mute as well. One Carrboro municipal challenger walked out on their political forum to dramatize the failure of the local chapter to get involved. The chapter president declared “foul” because Rogers Road environmental racism was ”one of their issues”. The reward for these faux environmentalists making like a herd of ostriches was support by the local Orange Progressive political groups behind their chapter president Ms. Bernadette Pelissier. She was handily elected to a county commish spot in 2008 without once speaking out against the environmental racism practiced by local government. (Bootlicking remains the favored mode of progressing politically in Orange County.)

Fast forward two years and consider the new found distaste of local Orange Progressives for employing what two years ago was proclaimed to be state-of-the-art, clean, attractive technology, a distaste that wasn't expressed at that meeting in 2007. Once alternative trash transfer station sites were considered, alternatives that aren’t not located near an African-American working class community, the shine came off the trash transfer station ”shinola”.

The town of Hillsborough was considered as a site. The mayor said, “thanks, but no thanks”.

Grassroots groups (such as the “not-near-my-farmette” Orange County Voice) sprung up to protest the use of a solid waste trash transfer station once it was to be moved off of Eubanks Road.

Finally, on 22 January 2009, with about one year to go to closure and the political heat on, a miracle happened. The dump wouldn’t close at least for another year, not until 2011, said Mr. Wilson. Although two years ago, the Commishes “had to vote now” and build that station, miraculously the Commishes could now vote to “examine alternatives to building a solid waste transfer station”.

In the words of Commish and nearby Hillsborough resident Barry Jacobs,”The basic assumption that a transfer station is the best alternative may be too narrow… There's no reason to not get a good answer to a question if you have time. After a certain point, you're out of options. We're not out of time and we're not out of options.” (See Chapel Hill News Landfill Miracle Story.)

Now that a non-African American working class community isn’t involved there’s time for the Commishes and local Orange Progressives to be thoughtful. Time they didn’t have two years ago. Time they have now.

In more words of caring from Commish Jacobs, ”We want to satisfy that we've looked at all reasonable alternatives. We want to be sure that we're taking an approach that is thoughtful and, within the realm of solid waste management, progressive. Within the philosophy of trying to reduce waste, are we making the best choices in how to dispose of waste? Those are the questions.” (See Herald Sun Plenty Of Time Story.)

No word on when the Vatican will send representatives to visit the landfill to witness the site of the miracle.

Hillsborough is the next hip, cool, progressive town in Orange County. Carrboro “groovitude” is slipping away to Hillsborough as more and more refugees flee from the rampant development brought to Carrboro by its developer mayor, Mark Chilton.

Part of Hillsborough charm is that it can live free from its impact on the environment. In the words of Ms. Margaret Wood Cannell, executive director of the Hillsborough Area Chamber of Commerce (HACC), “Tourism is a major economic force in Hillsborough and Orange County.” A solid waste trash transfer station is not exactly what the HACC is looking for in a member, even if it is a “state of the art”, clean and friendly one touted by Commish Mike Nelson.

According to a recent HACC resolution, ”A waste transfer station, along with its associated heavy truck traffic, is not the impression, appearance or aroma desired to welcome people to Hillsborough's entrances… placement of the proposed waste transfer [station] at any of the identified locations would negatively impact that industry.”

Pulp readers remember that it took the CY 2007 filing of a US Department of Justice environmental injustice complaint to trash the Commishes into reopening the trash transfer station site process.

The top two transfer station sites recommended to the county by a consultant, based on technical criteria, are just outside the town limits near Interstate 40 and Old N.C. 86.

In response to their progressive trash-making constituents, the Hillsborough Town Board reacted to the revelation of proposed trash transfer station near Hillsborough by pulling one of the favorite weapons out of the municipal governance arsenal - annexation. Hillsborough is offering to accept these proposed Hillsborough sites into town limits under the rules of voluntary annexation. The annexation option means the sites then have to undergo town zoning approvals in order to site a trash transfer station. The only cost to the owners is doubling their taxes with no legal guarantee that a trash transfer station can't be put on one of the sites anyway.

Unfortunately, the Hillsborough governance board hasn’t read the many North Carolina court decisions that have recognized that municipalities sell the protection of annexation for bad public puropses. In most cases, the town voluntarily annexes land way out in the country that contains an unwanted business, such as an asphalt plant. In a progressive twist, Hillsborough proposes annexing distant land to exclude an undesirable industry that it needs rather than to include it.

Curiously, although the Commishes have been holding public meetings in Hillsborough regarding the site for the proposed trash transfer station at locations around the county, according to the Hillsborough governance board, Hillsborough residents have been denied participation in the process. Although the Commish process has been remarkably transparent and open, it’s not transparent enough to have excluded any sites in Hillsborough due to the importance of tourism over environmental justice.

See Herald Sun Hillsborough Hypocrisy Story.

Showing the tender mercies of their sense of justice, the Orange County commissioners blamed Rogers Road residents for not being able to take the Eubanks Road site off the table from the second trash transfer station search. Developer Dream Team solicitor, flea market bane, and dirty dancer Barry Jacobs smugly declares ”As long as it's there, we're not going to discuss in public our position. We're just going to listen and continue with our discussions.”

Hiding behind “advice of pliable counsel”, the shame-challenged commissioners don’t offer any explanation as to why a federal administrative complaint would prevent them from following the move of the city of Greensboro in taking the Eubanks site off the table.

The unsinkable Ms. Neloa Jones, a Council for Ending Environmental Racism (CEER) co-chair is quoted as saying “This is just something else for them to say”, calling the commissioners’ move ”a bunch of [d@#%].” UPDATE: Ms. Jones denies using such an expression and has asked for a retraction from the N&O. (In a classic local media marginalizing move, the N&O reporter, Samuel Spies, conveniently failed to give Ms. Jones her full CEER title, labeling her simply a trash transfer station “opponent” and falling just short of applying the label “NIMBY”.)

No word from the local Sierra Club on the single most important environmental issue in Orange County.

No word from Ms. Pelissier, Sierra Club President and future commissioner candidate, on the acceptance of a Carrboro candidate’s offer in the last municipal election to call a Sierra Club meeting focused on this issue.

No word from former Orange Democratic Party President Barry Katz and staunch Jacobs apologist on the morality and justice of this blame-the-victim move.

See N&O Shameless Commissioners Story.

See Daily Tar Heel Version.

Showing the famous political dance steps that make local progressivism a moral force majeure, Orange County Solid Waste (OCSW) bulked up its land needs at a BOCC meeting conveniently held for citizens at 5:30 PM on 29 January 2008. County commissioners didn’t say “yes” and didn’t say ”no” to OCSW’s request for a larger “dance floor”. Just as they wouldn’t take the Eubanks Road site off the OCSW search table, failing to mirror the smooth moves of the city of Greensboro in responding to its environmental injustice solid waste concerns.

Less than six months ago, the BOCC had to find only 10 to 15 acres for a trash transfer station when they decided to dump on the Eubanks Road community again. Fed up, local residents decided to file a complaint for environmental injustice with the EPA against the Orange County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro governments. Now, the commissioners’ staff needs a whole lot more land, including 5 to 10 acres for a materials recovery facility, 60 to 100 acres for a permanent storm debris, organics, and land clearing operation, and 3 to 5 acres for a parking/crew facility. That means that OCSW needs about 80 to 130 acres, or about as much land as may be available around the present county lands at Eubanks.

Despite requests from attending Coalition to End Environmental Racism (CEER) members, the BOCC indicated by its actions that Rogers Road environmental injustice concerns are just like any other community specific criteria, a less than sympathetic or conciliatory response to CEER’s formal charges of environmentally unjust conduct by all southern Orange governments.

The BOCC further showed its collective opinion as to the environmental injustice complaint by doing its own dirty dancing. Any decision to pull Eubanks off the table (if it’s entertained at all) will not be until May 20th, a date falling serendipitously two weeks after the May 6th Democratic party primary election for county commissioners, the de facto election for commissioners in Orange County.

The intrepid Ms. Neloa Jones, CEER co-chair, delivered the following remarks to the solid waste shuffle:

“My name is Neloa Barbee Jones, and I am speaking on behalf of the Rogers-Eubanks Community and as Co-Chair of the Coalition to End Environmental Racism (CEER). My comments relate specifically to the site search criteria established thus far.

In mid-November, when CEER presented to you, we pointed to TWO points of especial importance:

1) Establishing a site search advisory panel (or committee)

As recommended by BOTH the National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (NEJAC) and the EPA in their Waste Transfer Stations: A Manual for Decision-Making, establishing a site search advisory panel is absolutely essential to ensuring meaningful participation from the residents of Orange County and residents of the Rogers-Eubanks Community.

Furthermore, this panel should be comprised of not just local and state elected officials, but also representatives from environmental justice organizations from relevant civic groups, from adjacent neighborhoods, and from concerned community groups; from businesses and solid waste industries, and from academic institutions AS WELL AS technical consultants such as the Olver firm, who advised you in the first flawed site search.

According to BOTH NEJAC and the EPA, this diverse panel is FIRST educated on site search issues and it is THIS panel that develops the initial set of site search criteria. Already evidenced by the materials thus far developed, having Olver alone, a technical consultant who lacks expertise to serve in diverse capacities, the present site search criteria thus presented is clearly and already flawed again.

2) Meaningful participation of the public and the application of community-specific criteria

For some inexplicable reason, the process outlined in your flow chart does not include public input OR apply community-specific criteria until very late in the site search process. Public input should begin immediately after the above site search advisory panel develops the initial set of criteria. Community specific criteria should be applied much earlier in the process. The flow chart shows that community specific criteria is not applied until after four (4) sites have been finalized. Developing site search criteria for a waste transfer station site in this manner violates EPA recommendations. For these reasons, we view this current process as already and clearly flawed again.

The NEJAC EPA site search steps listed in Figure 1, Exhibit 1 (below) merely represent a COMPRESSED version of the process and were intended merely as an outline. We assumed that you along with a site search advisory panel would do the work that each step demands. We are disappointed that this has not been done because what this means is that the process once again will at best yield flawed results. So at this point, we implore this board to establish an appropriate advisory panel to begin developing legitimate criteria as soon as possible.

Figure 1 Exhibit 1: Steps in Implementing an Area-wide Facility Selection Process”

For a more BOCC friendly view, see N&O Trash Story.

Janaury 2008

On 19 December 2007, the Chapel Hill News presented a guest editorial by Barry Katz, former head of the Orange County Democratic Party (OCDP) and resident of the area outside the southern Orange urban services boundary, sometimes referred to as the “Rural Buffer”. Mr. Katz equated the Coalition to End Environmental Racism (CEER) and its supporters with being “defamers” of the County Commissioners, wrapping the commissioners in an unsubstantiated halo of all having been “targets of discrimination – racial, religious, gender or sexual orientation – and it must be especially painful to be defamed by these charges.” He goes on to say that CEER and its supporters hurled “scurrilous charges of racism [that] can never become well-intentioned advocacy unless the racism accusations are disavowed and the proponents of those charges repudiated.”

An apparent expert in recognizing destructive name-calling and innuendo, after having called CEER members and advocates “defamers” and “scurrilous”, Mr. Katz opines that “[s]upporters of social justice ought to be able to debate thoughtfully on the basis of facts and accept the outcome of decisions made in good faith…. Too often, destructive name calling and innuendo are used to substitute for weak positions. Terms like “racist” or euphemisms like “social justice” used to characterize the decisions of the current board make me skeptical about the arguments of those who use them.”

Showing his intimate and encyclopedic knowledge of the events leading up to the March 2007 BOCC decision to place a trash transfer station on Eubanks Road (a decision since withdrawn by the commissioners), Mr. Katz says that the “[t]he 2007 decisions of the board about the location of the transfer station are examples of the thoughtfulness of our board when faced with a complex and difficult issue. In my opinion their decisions have nothing to do with racism or social justice.”

Neither Mr. Katz nor the Chapel Hill News bothered to inform their readers that Mr. Katz fought vehemently against the OCDP agreeing to a resolution in support of the CEER goals.

Support for Mr. Katz’s position was published in a follow-up letter by Ms. Nancy Parks, OCDP committee member and fellow anti-CEER OCDP resolution advocate.

Ms. Neloa Jones, CEER co-chair and Rogers Road resident who lives immediately adjacent to the Eubanks landfill responds (in a 20 January 2008 Chapel Hill News guest editorial) by noting that ”[o]ver the years, our Board of County Commissioners and other elected officials for whatever reasons - lack of foresight, possibly; lack of adequately trained support staff; lack of knowledge or sheer will, perhaps - have taken what appears to be the most expedient way out, that is, dumping garbage near a predominately low-income community of color, thus establishing over the past 35 years a trend now described as environmental racism.

For those unfamiliar with the phrase, environmental racism refers to the intentional or unintentional targeting of communities of color as places to locate solid waste management facilities. It also refers to the exclusion of people of color from environmental policy making and land-use decisions as well as having a broader context that relates to health and recreation and to fire, police and emergency services (see the Coalition to End Environmental Racism, Mission and Goals at www.rogersroad.wordpress.com)

We believe that to burden only one community with solid-waste management facilities and then locate yet another solid-waste facility in this same community while continuing other garbage-disposal and waste-collection activities is simply and clearly unjust. We believe that to deny basic government services to the residents of this community is simply and clearly unjust.

Many Rogers-Eubanks residents remain forced to drink well water, which is vulnerable to toxic contamination. They remain without fire hydrants that would serve to protect life and property while praying they might somehow be spared should a fire occur. They live without bus service, but watch with incredulousness as out-of-service buses pass through their neighborhoods on a daily basis. They still await the park they were promised 25 years ago when the first municipal landfill was scheduled to close.”

See Barry Katz Letter. See Nancy Parks letter. SeeNeloa Jones letter.

If you have sent in a letter in support of CEER that hasn't been published, then please let Hot Orange know. The history of the Chapel Hill News is to publish letters selectively.

January 2008

The 16 January BOCC work session (Commissioner Mike Nelson absent) started with a surprise. The commissioners received official notice from the EPA on the US Department of Justice complaint of environmental injustice (a complaint based on the board’s actions in selecting a new trash transfer station site) resulting in a closed session to start the meeting.

Back into an open session, it became clear confirmed to observers the Eubanks site wasn't off the table. However, Commissioner Valerie Foushee confirmed with the consulting engineers that the exclusionary criteria were not complete yet.

Criteria selection appears to be the determining factor in the site selection decision. Once the criteria are selected, the consulting engineers want to rank site priority “by the numbers”. Thus, if removal of the Eubanks Road site is not part of the exclusionary criteria, the Commissioners can select Eubanks Road under the rubris of “just following the advice of our consultants”.

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 29 January at the Southern Human Services Center, starting at 6 pm. The stated goal is to finalize and approve the site process.

See N&O related story

January 2008

Orange County Commissioners had a work session tonight on siting a solid waste trash transfer station (7:30PM, Link center in Hillsborough). Comfortably ensconced in their homes miles away from the carrion sights and gagging smells of the current county landfill (adjacent to the Eubanks/Rogers Road community), the commissioners haven't removed that community from the search despite repeated calls for doing so, as was done by the city of Greensboro.

See BOCC Solid Waste Work Session Abstract