NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) - Officials with Titan America have responded to a study that claims the cement plant's operations could lead to a death each summer if a new facility comes to fruition.
Tuesday evening, the environmental firm, ICF International, released results of it's study about Carolinas Cement's proposed facility in New Hanover County. Carolinas Cement is a branch of Titan America, LLC.
The Stop Titan Action Network hired ICF International, a management, environmental and technology consulting firm to look at possible impacts.
The study suggests that the cement plant would increase pollution levels, leading to more cases of respiratory and heart problems. From that information, the study inferred that such complications could lead to one premature death each year.
The group's data is calculated for between the months of May and September, when ozone levels are at their highest, to show the plant's peak impact.
Wednesday afternoon, the public relations firm for Carolinas Cement sent the following statement, challenging the study's results:
"The conclusions cited in a recent study from ICF International on the potential health impacts of the proposed Carolinas Cement plant are fundamentally flawed for three reasons.
- The study uses the maximum potential to emit (PTE) emission levels detailed in Carolinas Cement Company's air permit with the NC Division of Air Quality (as dictated by law). The reality is that no cement plant operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The emissions will be significantly lower, according to both Titan America and NC DAQ officials. Furthermore, even at the PTE level, Carolinas Cement has demonstrated through the NCDAQ and EPA permitting requirements that the facility will comply with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are public health protection levels set by the EPA with an adequate margin of safety to protect sensitive populations, such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly.
- The ICF International study is not peer-reviewed by independent scientists outside of the employ of ICF. When Titan America employed toxicology company Intertox to conduct an independent study of the potential impact of Carolinas Cement in 2008/2009, the study methodology and results were peer-reviewed by four independent scientists who are experts in toxicology and human health risk assessment. The peer review followed National Academy of Sciences guidelines to determine whether its findings were conservative and appropriate. No such reviews were conducted by ICF International.
- The ICF study does not account for reductions in emissions due to proposed changes for existing sources, and what the net impact of those reductions will be. There is no cement plant in the world with more stringent pollution controls than those proposed for Carolinas Cement, and the ICF study clearly demonstrates that Carolina Cement's contribution as compared to the baseline cases is very small. Carolinas Cement's advanced technologies will enable it to capture 99.9% of all particulate matter created during the manufacturing process."
The North Carolina Department of Air Quality is expected to decide on the company's air quality permit sometime this year.
After that, the company will have to get federal and local permits.
If approved, the plant wouldn't open until 2016.
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